Berlin—Fresh from winning the ATP tournament in Cologne last weekend, Germany’s Alexander Zverev reached the quarter-finals of the second week on the Rhine with a tough, three-set triumph over John Millman of Australia on Wednesday (Thursday Philippine time).
Zverev, 23, ranked seventh in the world, needed nearly two hours to post a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the 31-year-old Millman.
The German top seed will meet France’s Adrian Mannarino in Friday’s quarterfinals.
On Thursday, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, who saw off Britain’s Kyle Edmund on Tuesday, will play Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff for a last-eight place.
Seventh-seed Struff beat Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.
Cologne’s Lanxess Arena is hosting back-to-back ATP events.
Zverev defeated Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime last weekend in the final of the first event.
Zverev pledged to bounce back from his bitterly disappointing loss in the final of the US Open to capture a Grand Slam one day.
The 23-year-old German went two sets and a break up in his first Grand Slam final before losing in five sets to Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
“I was super close to being a Grand Slam champion. I was a few games away, maybe a few points away,” a dejected Zverev told reporters.
“For me what upset me the most is not the third set, it’s the fifth set,” when he was serving for the championship at 5-3.
“I had a lot of chances in the fifth set and didn’t use them,” he added.
The second-seeded Thiem beat the fifth seed Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).
It was the first time in the US Open’s Open era history that a player had recovered from losing the opening two sets to win the title.
It was also the first time the final had been settled by a tie-break.
