ATP: Zverev v Zverev: Brother duel in Washington

Defending champion Alexander Zverev has reached the round of 16 at the hard court tournament in Washington D.C. without any problems and is dueling for the first time in his ATP career with his older brother Mischa.

The 21-year-old tennis pro from Hamburg won his opening match against Malek Jaziri from Tunisia on Wednesday (local time) with 6:2, 6:1.

“This will be exciting. We both want to win, we’re both excited,” Alexander Zverev said in view of the upcoming duel and added with a wink. “We used to play the Wimbledon finale in the backyard. He used to hit me there. I hope it’ll be different this time.”

Mischa Zverev (No. 15) had defeated the American Tim Smyczek 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) in his first tournament match. Like his brother nine years younger, he had benefited from a walk-through in the first round.