Imagine only having to win the first point of your service game, and you are basically a lock to hold.

That was Alexander Zverev in Rome last week. Zverev, 20, won the Internazionali BNL d’Italia – his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, and third overall title this season.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Zverev’s maiden Masters uncovers complete dominance on serve on the clay courts at the Foro Italico.

Zverev had 68 service games in six matches in Rome. Almost 80 per cent of the time (54), he surged ahead 15/0. Of the 54 service games where he reached 15/0, he won 52 of them. That 96 per cent win rate was higher than his 2017 season average of 92 per cent. Just one point and the game is pretty much done and dusted.

Zverev’s 6’6” (198cm) frame is built for serving. He is tall, yet speedy around the court. He is lithe, yet has massive power at his disposal from his long levers.

Of the 14 times he fell behind 0/15, he won 80 per cent (11/14) of those service games. He only fell behind 0/30 five times, winning four of those games. If he got ahead 30/0, which he did 37 times, he won every single one of these service games.

Zverev’s second serve is an obvious area of improvement in his rise up the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Zverev second serve points won:

• 2015 = 47% (493/1041)
• 2016 = 50% (1088/2156)
• 2017 = 56% (550/979)
• 2017 Rome = 61% (73/120)

Zverev’s first serve is emerging as one of the best shots in the game. His 2017 season average for first serves made is 63 per cent. But when Zverev faced 14 break points in Rome, he made a first serve 71 per cent of the time. The ability to elevate under pressure is already a hallmark of his game.

In the deuce court, he made two of three first serves on break point, and made eight of 11 in the ad court. He won 60 per cent (6/10) of break points behind his first serve, and 75 per cent (3/4) behind his second serve.

What’s fascinating is that Zverev is actually putting up better return numbers than on his serve in the past 52 weeks. He is ranked 25th best on the ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys Nia Data, and 18th best returning.

Zverev is eighth best on tour converting break points in the past 52 weeks at 44.8 per cent. He was true to form in Rome, winning 45.2 per cent (19/42) of his break points. Overall in Rome, Zverev won 55.6 per cent (466/838) of total points – a significant jump over his 2017 season average of 52.1 per cent (2784/5339).

His Rome numbers send an ominous warning to the rest of the tour. If he can keep that up for a full season, that’s right where the World No. 1 ends up in total points won.

Top seed and defending champion Stan Wawrinka has been gently eased into this year’s Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, moving through his opening-round match on Wednesday after 37 minutes when Rogerio Dutra Silva was forced to retire with a right ankle injury. The local favourite led 5-2 in the first set.

“This was very unlucky for Rogerio. He was playing very well lately and I hope that he will be fine,” said Wawrinka. “It will be important to play matches and spend time on the court.” “Querrey is a very dangerous player who’s had a lot of important victories in his career,” said Wawrinka. “He had match points against Thiem last week. He has a huge serve and hits the ball very hard.”

The World No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings improves to 6-1 in Geneva and 3-3 on clay this season. He defeated Marin Cilic in last year’s final to win his first title on home soil.

Next up for Wawrinka in the quarter-finals is Sam Querrey, who lost only three of his first-service points in a 6-2, 6-3 win over qualifier Franko Skugor. The Swiss star leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1.

“Querrey is a very dangerous player who’s had a lot of important victories in his career,” said Wawrinka. “He had match points against Thiem last week. He has a huge serve and hits the ball very hard.”

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Albert Ramos-Vinolas and John Isner, who have both performed well on the European clay this year, both made early exits on Wednesday.

Andrey Kuznetsov overcame third seed Ramos-Vinolas 7-5, 6-1 in 89 minutes to reach the quarter-finals for the second straight year. Ramos-Vinolas, the Sao Paulo and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo finalist, has reached the last eight in eight tournaments this season.

He’ll play lucky loser Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who advanced after Janko Tipsarevic retired due to illness in their second-round match. The 26-year-old German, currently No. 314 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, led 6-4, 0-1, is through to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since July 2012 in Stuttgart.

Qualifier Mischa Zverev saved all four break points he faced and struck 11 aces to beat fourth seed Isner 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 in two hours. Five days ago, Mischa’s younger brother, Alexander Zverev, beat Isner in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals.

“Clay is not my preferred surface, but I am happy that I changed my game today and didn’t serve-volley,” said Zverev. “I served well and that helps a lot. My next opponent, Steve Johnson, plays well on clay and has a good kick serve, and a heavy forehand which is good here in Geneva. He is playing very well.”

Isner’s compatriot, fifth seed Steve Johnson fared better on day four at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament. This year’s Houston titlist Johnson needed just 51 minutes to beat Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-3.

DOUBLES

Top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau needed just 67 minutes to breeze into the semi-finals over Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 6-1, 6-4. Next up for Rojer/Tecau is Dutra Silva and Paolo Lorenzi or Scott Lipsky and Leander Paes.

Second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah survived a late surge from Johnson and Querrey to reach the final four 6-0, 7-6(6). They’ll now play either third seeds Treat Huey and Robert Lindstedt or wild cards Johan Nikles and Tim Puetz. 

Milos Raonic began his quest for a ninth ATP World Tour title on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Denis Istomin at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon. In his fourth straight week on European clay, the World No. 6 lost just five of his first-service points and hit eight aces in the 81-minute encounter against Istomin.

Raonic, this year’s Delray Beach and Istanbul runner-up, will now challenge qualifier Gastao Elias, who reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year when he defeated sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro 7-6(0), 6-4 in one hour and 53 minutes. Elias saved one set point at 5-6, Ad-out in the first set that lasted 67 minutes. Raonic is attempting to lift his first trophy since January 2016 at Brisbane.

“I knew I’d been playing pretty well lately, so I knew I had a chance against a top player,” said Elias. “I’m really glad it happened today and I’m looking forward to the next round. I played very well, but I made a few unforced errors that I didn’t like so much in tough and windy conditions.”

Second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga worked hard for a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Carlos Berlocq in two hours and 23 minutes. Tsonga recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the first set to hold one set point opportunity on Berlocq’s serve at 5-6, 30/40.

“It was a great atmosphere today. The stadium was full. I am very happy to go through this round and have a chance to play in the quarter-finals tomorrow,” said Tsonga. “It is really important for me to play back-to-back matches. I had a small issue with my shoulder. I have to be healthy if I want to play well at Roland Garros and it starts this week in order to get more confident about my game.”

He will now face #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov, who turned 21 on Sunday, after the Russian knocked out Jordan Thompson 6-2, 7-6(3) in one hour and 34 minutes.

Third seed and wild card entry Tomas Berdych reached his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final (or better) of the season in coming back from a 1-3 deficit in the second set to overcome #NextGenATP qualifier Hyeon Chung 6-3, 7-5 in 83 minutes.

“This was a serious opponent because he’s a young guy and playing well. He’s coming through qualifying and players can be dangerous with the extra matches, so I’m happy with how I handled his game and the conditions,” said Berdych. “I came here because I want to get as many matches as possible, so hopefully I can go all the way through.”

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Aussies Save 1 M.P. For Semi-Final Spot

Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid saved one match point at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break en route to beating Brian Baker and Nikola Mektic 7-6(4), 3-6, 11-9 in 80 minutes for a place in the semi-finals. Baker and Mektic could not convert one set point chance on a deciding deuce point at 5-4 in the first set.

They’ll play Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner, who scraped past Andre Begemann and Philipp Oswald 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-8 in one hour and 46 minutes. Begemann and Oswald led 4-1 in the first set.

Third seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic saved four match points to defeat French brothers Benoit Paire and Thomas Paire 6-4, 1-6, 13-11. Marach/Pavic saved the match points in the Match Tie-break at 7/9, 9/10 and 10/11. Awaiting them in the final four will be Carlos Berlocq and Andreas Seppi or Andres Molteni and Adil Shamasdin.

Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti started making his way back to the Roland Garros main draw on Tuesday, beating 23^rd seed Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the second round of qualifying in Paris.

Trungelliti, No. 161 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, gained the biggest win of his career last year at Roland Garros. After qualifying, the 5’11” right-hander upset then World-No. 10 Marin Cilic in the first round.

Italian Alessandro Giannessi knocked out home hopeful Calvin Hemery of France 7-5, 6-3. German Tobias Kamke converted three of four break points to beat American Rajeev Ram 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic advanced past Australia’s Sam Groth 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2. Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik, who beat Cilic earlier this year in Chennai, moved into the second round of qualifying when Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands retired down 4-6.

Second seed Kei Nishikori improved to 7-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin on Tuesday, saving both break points to advance 6-4, 6-3 at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. “Served really well today I think that’s why I played very solid. I think everything was good today,” Nishikori said.

Nishikori, who accepted a late wild card into the ATP World Tour 250 event, is looking to get his clay season going in Switzerland. The World No. 9 fell to Juan Martin del Potro in the third round last week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Before that ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, the Japanese right-hander suffered a right wrist injury that kept him out of Barcelona and forced him to withdraw from the Mutua Madrid Open before his quarter-final match. But Nishikori said all is better now. “Physically I think I’m very fit now. So I’m feeling very confident,” Nishikori said.

In the quarter-finals, he will meet South African Kevin Anderson, who advanced past #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-2.

Fifth seed Steve Johnson stayed perfect on the clay this year, dismissing 37-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-3, 6-3. The American improved to 5-0 on the red dirt, having won the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championship title in Houston last month (d. Bellucci). Johnson will next meet Argentine Horacio Zeballos, who prevailed past Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 0-6, 7-5.

Serbian wild card Janko Tipsarevic beat ninth seed Ryan Harrison 6-4, 7-6(5) and will next play German lucky loser Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who outlasted countryman Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2) in two hours and 16 minutes. The 32-year-old Tipsarevic improved to 2-3 on the ATP World Tour but is 20-0 with four titles on the ATP Challenger Tour this season.

Sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro remained perfect against opponents ranked outside the Top 6 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Tuesday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon.

The Argentine broke lucky loser Quentin Halys of France four times to advance 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 36 minutes. Del Potro was aced 12 times but won 80 per cent of his first-serve points (35/44) and saved three of four break points against the 20-year-old #NextGenATP Frenchman during their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

“He surprised me with his level but I survived, and I am looking forward to playing tomorrow,” said del Potro, who will next face Portuguese qualifier Gastao Elias. “[Lyon] is a magnificent city. I had the chance to walk around and it is really beautiful. I hope to stay many more days here.”

The 6’6″ del Potro improves to 5-1 on clay this season, following his quarter-final run last week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (l. to Djokovic). Overall, del Potro, No. 30 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is 11-5 on the year, with his handful of losses coming against Top 6 opponents – Federer, Raonic and three defeats against Djokovic.

Brit Kyle Edmund will face fifth seed Gilles Simon after coming back from a set down to advance past Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Edmund and Simon have split their two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, with the 22-year-old Edmund taking their most recent contest last June at The Queen’s Club in London.

#NextGenATP Russian Karen Khachanov won nearly 70 per cent of his second-serve return points to advance past Argentina’s Renzo Olivo 6-2, 6-4. Khachanov will next meet Aussie Jordan Thompson.

Nick Kyrgios expressed his envy at his friend Alexander Zverev’s discipline after the #NextGenATP star’s stunning win at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Kyrgios beat Zverev in back-to-back weeks as he made the quarter-finals in Indian Wells and the semi-finals in Miami earlier in the year. But while he holds the edge in their budding FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry (2-0), the Australian has high hopes for his 20-year-old friend, who clinched his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown in Rome.

“He’s been playing great tennis,” said Kyrgios. “He has a massive future ahead. I actually envy him in a way. He does all the right things. He’s very professional. That’s obviously something I don’t quite tick the box for. He’s done all the right things. He’s going to have a great career. He’s younger than me as well. It’s going to be exciting to watch him play. I’m sure I’ll play him a lot more times.”

After being forced to miss Rome, Kyrgios returns to action this week at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon, where he is set to play his opening match against qualifier Nicolas Kicker later on Tuesday.

Talking to ATPWorldTour.com, the Australian said while he draws confidence from his wins over Novak Djokovic earlier in the season, as well as his three-set epic with Roger Federer in the Miami semi-finals, his primary focus for the coming weeks is to stay healthy.

“I think the one thing I just need to improve on is my health and my body,” said Kyrgios. “I’ve got to get it physically right and stay healthy to play events. I think my game at the moment is in the right frame of mind. I can play some really good tennis. My level is there, I just need to stay healthy.”