By Chris Oddo | Thursday, July 17, 2014
For his latest trick, Germany's Alexander Zverev became the youngest player to reach an ATP quarterfinal since 2003.
Photo Source: Bet-at-Home Open
17-year-old Alexander Zverev continues to defy the odds at his hometown tournament in Hamburg. The wild card, who had never won an ATP main draw match entering this week, has now reached the quarterfinals of the Bet-at-Home Open after defeating 11th-seeded Santiago Giraldo, 6-4, 7-6(6).
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Zverev became the first 17-year-old to knock off a top 20 player in over ten years on the ATP Tour on Wednesday when he sacked fifth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5, 7-5. He notched a 6-0, 6-2 beatdown of Dutchman Robin Haase in the first round.
The German, who racked up seven aces and broke serve on two of five opportunities against Giraldo, becomes the youngest ATP player to reach a tour-level quarterfinal since Rafael Nadal did so in Bastad in 2003. He failed to serve out the match in the second set, but made good in the second-set tiebreaker to secure his spot in the last eight.
According to Jeff Sackman of Tennis Abstract, only three other active players reached an ATP quarterfinal at a younger age – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Lleyton Hewitt.
Zverev joins a group of nine active players to have reached an ATP quarterfinal before their 18th birthday:
Zverev will square off against Tobias Kamke of Germany in the semifinals tomorrow.