French Open 2020 - Alexander Zverev cruises into fourth round with demolition of Marco Cecchinato

ByEurosport

Updated 02/10/2020 at 19:32 GMT

Alexander Zverev produced a straight sets win against Marco Cecchinato in the third round of the French Open at Roland Garros. The big-serving German hit ten aces as he overpowered his Italian opponent. Zverev will face Jannik Sinner in the round of 16.

Alexander Zverev made short work of Marco Cecchinato at the French Open on Friday, rolling the Italian in straight sets.

Zverev, who did not play any claycourt events following last month's run to the U.S. Open final, was dominant and grabbed two quick breaks to wrap up the first set after 25 minutes.

Italian Cecchinato, a surprise semi-finalist in Paris in 2018, improved his game to hold his serve as he attempted to move the sixth-seeded German around more.

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Zverev's unforced errors increased briefly and the 28-year-old Cecchinato, ranked 110th, earned his first break to serve for the set at 5-4. But he lost his cool and slammed his racket on the ground as Zverev won the next six games in a row including wrapping up the second set.

The German had no trouble clinching the third as he finished off his opponent with his third match point after an hour and 47 minutes. He will face Jannik Sinner in the round of 16.

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Earlier in the day Hugo Gaston produced the biggest performance of his career to unravel Stan Wawrinka in five sets on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Gaston, who had only played one Grand Slam match before this year’s tournament in Paris, defied the odds to win 2-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-0 in a rain-interrupted third-round match.

Roared on by a small, socially-distanced crowd, the world number 239 kept his nerve in the decider to bagel the 35-year-old Wawrinka and claim a huge scalp.

"I tried to play my game, I entered the court to win even if I didn't think I could win," Gaston said on court.

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Gaston had not even won a match on the second-tier ATP Challengers circuit since tennis’ resumption amid the Covid-19 pandemic but justified his wildcard with victories over compatriot Maxime Janvier and Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

And he wrote his name into French tennis history with a monumental win over the 2015 champion, with the tears quickly flowing as the magnitude of his achievement sunk in.

The 20-year-old is the first man ranked outside the top 200 to reach the fourth round since 2002.

If he fancied causing an even bigger shock, he has the perfect opportunity: his next opponent is two-time finalist and US Open champion Dominic Thiem.

"It's going to be a crazy experience (against Thiem). I'm going to give everything, just like today and we'll see the result. I will have nothing to lose," added Gaston.

Highlights: Heroic Gaston ousts Wawrinka to delight French crowd

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