This loss comes two weeks following he was excluded from the Mexican Acapulco tournament in the singles, following he deliberately hit the referee’s chair with his racket several times during a match in the doubles, to be punished with an eight-week suspension of all competitions, suspended, in addition to a fine of $ 40,000 in an initial decision.
Despite his decline during the match once morest his American opponent, Zverev maintained his composure and did not appear angry.
The German sent in the third set to advance 5-2, but Paul, who had previously beaten him in the first meeting between them, broke his serve immediately following a failed serve to Zverev, before he was able to force him into the tiebreak, restoring his aggressive style that distinguished him in the set First.
And Paul hit a date in the next round with Australian Alex de Minaur (29), who defeated his compatriot John Millman 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Tenth win in a row for Rublev
In contrast to Zverev, Russian Andrey Rublev, ranked seventh in the tournament, won his tenth straight victory by beating German Dominic Kupfer 7-5, 6-4.
Rublev trailed 2-4 before breaking his opponent, ranked 51st in the world, to seal the first set in his favour.
The second set witnessed a rivalry between the players. After Rublev broke Kupfer’s serve to advance 4-3, the latter responded quickly by breaking the Russian serve to equalize 4-4, so Rublev repeated the same and advanced 5-4 and later survived three break points to win the set and then the match.
Rublev, who has won the Marseille and Dubai titles this year, faces Frances Tiafoe, who defeated his compatriot Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-4, in the next American league.
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, the sixth -4) and 6-3.
And the adventure of Britain’s Andy Murray, who won his 700th career victory in the first round, ended with his loss to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik (31) 6-7 (9-11), 3-6.
The crowned Publique won the French title in Montpellier last February for the first time over the crowned three titles in the Grand Slam tournaments during three confrontations between them.
