Hamburg Open: Zverev reaches round of 16 despite knee issue

Top seed Alexander Zverev managed a knee issue to defeat Jesper de Jong in straight sets and reach the round of 16 at his home tournament in Hamburg on Wednesday.

Zverev had hurt his left knee during his third-round match in Wimbledon.

World No. 4 and defending champion Zverev won 6-2, 6-2 against Dutch World No. 114 De Jong to set up a last-16 clash with Frenchman Hugo Gaston.

“I was still unsure this morning if I was going to play or not and during the warm-up I was in quite a lot of pain,” said Zverev.

“But somehow when I step on this court it disappears a little bit when the adrenaline gets going.

“I have an injury where I know where I stand and it will take time to heal. It won’t heal in the next few days, it will take weeks and it’s up to me if I am going to play like that or not.”

Third seed Sebastian Baez and fourth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo, both from Argentina, progressed to the quarterfinals along with Italy’s Luciano Darderi and Spaniard Pedro Martinez.