No. 3-ranked Alexander Zverev was empathetic for Joel Schwaerzler after hammering the 18-year-old wild card in his hometown debut at the Erste Bank Open on Monday. Zverev won by a quick 6-2, 6-2 then gave 347th-ranked Schwaerzler,

No. 1 seed and 2021 champion Alexander Zverev remains one of the favorites to pick up the ATP 500 title in Vienna this week. After a quick opening-round win over Joel Schwaerzler, he’s facing last week’s Antwerp semifinalist Marcos Giron.

Top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany zipped past Joel Schwaerzler 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open on Monday in Vienna, Austria.

World no. 3 Alexander Zverev is off to a winning start at the ATP 500 event in Vienna. The German faced the young Austrian Joel Schwaerzler in the first round and scored a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory in 68 minutes. Thus, Alexander notched his 60th ATP win of the season, achieving that for the second time after 2018.