World No. 2 Alexander Zverev survived a grinding debut against China’s Buyunchaokete Tuesday night to push into the second round of the Rio Open presented by Claro.
The top seed was forced to save a set point on Bu’s serve during a draining 78-minute opening set and to overcome a modest performance on serve to scratch out a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory that included 28 unforced errors, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
“Not a great match by me but he played he played some good tennis,” said Zverev, who won just 71 per cent of points on first serve. “He made it difficult for me. Actually it's surprising because you know I actually played really really well in practice here the whole week, so I hope it's just the first match.
“I lost focus. I lost my shots and my rhythm a little bit. Went maybe for a bit too much and made it complicated for myself.”
Zverev seemed headed for a commanding win when leading 4-1 in the first set, but the 23-year-old Chinese staged a remarkable recovery to hold a set point on serve at 5-4 before the German steadied to take the marathon opener.
Football star in the house! @AlexZverev met @filipeluis after his match in Rio 🤝@RioOpenOficial | #RioOpen pic.twitter.com/8B8uZddiJO
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 19, 2025
Zverev, who fell to Francisco Cerundolo in the Buenos Aires quarter-finals last week, improved to 26-2 in opening rounds on clay since 2020. A finalist at Roland Garros and the Australian Open in the past nine months, he also improved to 22-1 against player outside the Top of the PIF ATP Rankings since 2023 Roland Garros.
Zverev, a two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion, next faces Kazakhstan's Alexander Shevchenko in a first-time Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
Defending champion Sebastian Baez began his campaign with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against countryman Roman Andres Burruchaga. Up next for the fifth seed Baez is a rematch of last year’s title match when he goes against Mariano Navone, who beat Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 6-3.
Portugal’s Jaime Faria will make his Top 100 debut in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings after defeating Chilean Tomas Barrios Vera 6-2, 7-5. Faria, who reached the third round of the Australian Open as a qualifier, is up to No. 94 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
