World no. 3 Alexander Zverev is through to the last 16 in Toronto. The German defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 456 minutes in the third round, moving through and achieving a massive milestone.
Namely, Alexander became the fifth active player with 500 ATP victories, joining Novak Djokovic Gael Monfils, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic on the exclusive list.
Zverev is the 57th player to achieve that in the Open era and the first born after 1988. World no. 3 had to work hard to secure the milestone. He raised his level after the opener and brought the victory home.
The favorite served at 74% and defended three of four break points. He took charge in sets two and three and kept the pressure on the Italian. Arnaldi struggled behind the second serve and played against 14 break points.
He saved ten but hit the exit door after getting broken three times in sets two and three. Alexander landed34 winners and36 unforced errors, taming his strokes nicely and building the advantage in service winners, from the baseline and at the net.
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They battled for 81 minutes in the first set. Zverev clinched a break in the fifth game and forged a 4-2 advantage. Matteo denied two more break points in the seventh game and pulled the break back in the next one after the rival's loose backhand.
Alexander saved two set points on serve in the tenth game, and the set went into a tie break. The servers clinched the opening nine points. World no. 3 hit a double fault at 4-5 and offered his rival two more set points.
Arnaldi seized the second at 6-5 with a forehand crosscourt winner, closing the opener and moving closer to a stunner. Zverev reacted quickly and provided a break at love in the second game of the second set.
He denied a break point in game five with a powerful serve and wrapped up the set with a service winner at 5-3, forcing a decider after two hours and two minutes.
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The Italian denied three break points in the third game of the final set. However, the 2017 champion provided a break at 2-2 after a costly double fault from his rival.
Matteo sprayed another double fault in the seventh game and fell 5-2 behind. Alexander held after a deuce in game eight, sealing the deal and celebrating his 500th ATP victory.
