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Watch: Zverev On Young Guns Charge



Former junior world No. 1 Alexander Zverev is touted by some players as a future world No. 1 on the pro circuit.

The 19-year-old German needed just 96 minutes to dismiss veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu and earn his first career Wimbledon main-draw win today.

Watch: Djokovic Cruises Into Third Round, Visited By Special Guest

Zverev says he's flattered by the respect he's received from some peers and points to Roland Garros semifinalist Dominic Thiem and former Wimbledon quarterfinalist and sometimes doubles partner Nick Kyrgios as leading the young guns charge.

"Obviously it's nice to hear from great players like that that they see the talent that I think I have, but, you know, there is still a lot of hard work ahead of me to be up where I want to be," Zverev said. "Yeah, but we're a very good young group of guys who are coming up with obviously Nick being there. Dominic is top 10 now. So they are kind of leading the charge and I'm trying to keep up with them. Of course I'm a little bit younger. I'm a little bit younger than Dominic and two years younger than Nick, but obviously they're doing very great. We will see who will be good in the future."

The No. 24-seeded German is in the third quarter of the draw and could face the eighth-seeded Thiem in the fourth round if both make it that far.

Zverev, who joined Thiem and Kyrgios in the second round, has already produced some of his most dynamic tennis against the game's greatest champions. He held a match point against Rafael Nadal before bowing to the king of clay in Indian Wells and knocked off seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer on the grass of Halle.

 

A touch of magic from Nick Kyrgios... 👌 #Wimbledon #hotshot @k1ngkyrg1os

A video posted by Wimbledon (@wimbledon) on



Asked when he envisions a young player breaking through at a Grand Slam, Zverev said Thiem has already done it with his run to the French Open final four.

"I mean, Dominic is top 10 now.  He's been semis in Paris and winning a lot of big tournaments.  I kind of feel like he already did it a little bit," Zverev said. "The question is who and when somebody will win a Grand Slam, I mean, we'll see about that.

"Novak is playing unbelievable right now. Andy is pretty much only losing to Novak if it comes to that. Roger is still there even though he's been a bit injured.  But, you know, he's still playing great tennis. We'll see in the future how it goes. I mean, I really think that some of the young guys can really play with them in the future and maybe even beat them, but, you know, it still takes a little bit of time."

Photo credit: Gerry Weber Open

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