Wimbledon: Zverev books spot in second round, plays lucky loser Watanuki next

German Alexander Zverev, the No 19 seed, reached the second round of Wimbledon by defeating Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Thursday afternoon.

Following the match, Zverev quelled any concerns about his fitness moving forward at Wimbledon 2023:

“I proved at the French Open that my fitness is at a good stage,” explained the German. “I think I’m not thinking about these kind of things anymore.”

“That’s usually a good sign, when you’re not thinking about it. It means that you’re prepared. For now, as I said, I played three sets. I feel pretty fresh and I feel pretty ready to go.”

Zverev, ranked No 21, will play Japanese lucky loser Yosuke Watanuki next.

London (Grand Slam), other first-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 16.077.000, most recent results first):

• Matteo Berrettini beat Lorenzo Sonego: 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (7), 6-3
• Nicolas Jarry (25) beat Marco Cecchinato: 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1
• Jason Kubler beat Ugo Humbert: 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
• Alex De Minaur (15) beat Kimmer Coppejans (Q): 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Christopher O’Connell beat Hamad Medjedovic (Q): 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
• Yosuke Watanuki beat Marc-Andrea Huesler: 6-7 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3
• Roberto Carballes Baena beat Matteo Arnaldi (Q): 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
• Botic van de Zandschulp beat Zhizhen Zhang: 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-2
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (31) beat Arthur Fils (WC): 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-2
• Marton Fucsovics beat Tallon Griekspoor (28): 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
• Laslo Djere beat Maxime Cressy: 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (7)
• Adrian Mannarino beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
• Ben Shelton (32) beat Taro Daniel (LL): 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3
• Ilya Ivashka beat Federico Coria: 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-0
• Marcos Giron beat Hugo Dellien: 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4
• Christopher Eubanks beat Thiago Monteiro: 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3
• Jiri Vesely beat Sebastian Korda (22): 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
• Holger Rune (6) beat George Loffhagen (WC): 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2
• Denis Shapovalov (26) beat Radu Albot (Q): 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Dominic Thiem: 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8)
• Taylor Fritz (9) beat Yannick Hanfmann: 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Tommy Paul (16) beat Shintaro Mochizuki (Q): 7-5, 6-3, 6-1
• Roman Safiullin beat Roberto Bautista Agut (20): 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5
• Harold Mayot (Q) beat Benjamin Bonzi: 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
• Alexandre Muller beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Guido Pella beat Borna Coric (13): 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1
• Gregoire Barrere beat Lloyd Harris: 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3
• Milos Raonic beat Dennis Novak: 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1
• Jiri Lehecka beat Sebastian Ofner (WC): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Francisco Cerundolo (18) beat Nuno Borges: 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
• Dominic Stricker (Q) beat Alexei Popyrin: 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
• Frances Tiafoe (10) beat Yibing Wu: 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Arthur Fery (WC): 7-5, 6-4, 6-3
• Grigor Dimitrov (21) beat Sho Shimabukuro (Q): 6-1, 6-2, 6-1
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry (29) beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles: 6-7 (5), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
• Quentin Halys beat Daniel Evans (27): 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4
• Cameron Norrie (12) beat Tomas Machac (Q): 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
• Andy Murray beat Ryan Peniston (WC): 6-3, 6-0, 6-1
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Jeremy Chardy: 6-0, 6-2, 7-5
• Jannik Sinner (8) beat Juan Manuel Cerundolo: 6-2, 6-2, 6-2
• Daniel Elahi Galan beat Yoshihito Nishioka (24): 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
• Stan Wawrinka beat Emil Ruusuvuori: 7-5, 7-5, 6-4
• Diego Schwartzman beat Miomir Kecmanovic: 6-0, 6-3, 6-4
• Alexander Bublik (23) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Aleksandar Vukic beat Daniel Altmaier: 6-3, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-5
• Oscar Otte (Q) beat Dominik Koepfer: 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (9)
• Mikael Ymer beat Alex Molcan: 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
• Jan Choinski (WC) beat Dusan Lajovic: 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2
• Casper Ruud (4) beat Laurent Lokoli (Q): 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
• Jaume Munar beat John Isner: 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
• J.J. Wolf beat Enzo Couacaud (Q): 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Liam Broady (WC) beat Constant Lestienne: 6-1, 6-3, 7-5
• David Goffin (WC) beat Fabian Marozsan (LL): 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
• Corentin Moutet beat Richard Gasquet: 6-3, 7-5, 7-5
• Michael Mmoh (LL) beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (11): 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4
• Novak Djokovic (2) beat Pedro Cachin: 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Hubert Hurkacz (17) beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas: 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
• Maximilian Marterer beat Borna Gojo: 7-5, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-4
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat Max Purcell: 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
• Jordan Thompson beat Brandon Nakashima: 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Lorenzo Musetti (14) beat Juan Pablo Varillas: 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
• Tomas Barrios Vera (Q) beat Sebastian Baez: 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Aslan Karatsev beat Luca Van Assche: 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4