DPA

Washington

Wimbledon finalist Alexander Zverev reached the last 16 of the Cincinnati Open with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) victory over France’s Terence Atmane on Monday.

The top seed will next face either American Tommy Paul or Paraguay’s Adolfo Vallejo.

Atmane made the much better start, racing into a 3-0 lead before Zverev won his first game and began to find his rhythm.

The Frenchman twice moved back in front at 4-3 and 5-4 after Zverev had levelled, but the German took control in the tie-break to claim the opening set.

Zverev then saved an early break point in the second set and looked more comfortable, but was unable to force a break of his own and had to settle the match in another tie-break.

The 29-year-old had also been made to work in his opening match against Britain’s Cameron Norrie, winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Fery beaten

Arthur Fery failed to replicate his Wimbledon heroics as he marked his return to the court with a straight-sets defeat by fifth seed Alex de Minaur.

Fery, who shot into the world’s top 50 after his stunning run to the semi-final at the All England Club, was playing his first match since that improbable run was ended at the hands of Zverev.

And Fery showed signs of the same fighting quality as he hit back from 5-1 down in the second set to force a tie-break, before ultimately falling to a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) defeat.

The match was subject to three rain delays as the weather continued to play havoc with the schedule in Ohio, although there were earlier wins for Flavio Cobolli and Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Thiago Agustin Tirante.

In the women’s competition, seventh seed Iga Swiatek stormed back from a bad start, winning 12 of the last 14 games to defeat Maria Sakkari of Greece 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Second seed Elena Rybakina cruised through against Poland’s Magdalena Frech, while there were also wins for Sorana Cirstea and Diane Parry.

Williams sisters lose

on doubles return

Serena and Venus Williams were beaten in their first doubles match together for four years at the Cincinnati Open, going down 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 against Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.

It was the first time since the 2022 US Open that the sisters had competed together, with Serena opting to step away from tennis in the aftermath of that tournament.

In June, she made a return to doubles before playing singles at Wimbledon as a wild card, though she sustained a knee injury in losing to Maya Joint in the first round and was unable to take part in the doubles alongside her sister as planned.

“We’ve waited a long time to get back on the doubles court.

Eventually, we find our way to each other,” Venus said.

“We give each other so much grace and encouragement. This is our first time playing together in forever, and I think we’re really getting into our stride.” The pair made a poor start against Kostyuk and Stearns but hit back to take the match to a tie-break.

They went 6-0 down in 10-point decider but despite battling back, Kostyuk and Stearns secured victory on a double fault from Venus.