Under challenging weather conditions, fourth seed Alexander Zverev halted Hungary Fabian Marozsan’s impressive run at the Miami Open presented by Itau, claiming a 6-3, 7-5 win after one hour and 38 minutes at the Hard Rock Stadium Thursday afternoon.
In his on-court interview, the 2018 Miami runner-up outlined: “I’m happy to be back in these late stages of these tournaments, playing the best players in the world; I think there are only those left.”
The first meeting on tour between the players resulted in an entertaining matchup, which saw the former World No. 2 setting off to a solid, clean start.
For his part, Marozan, playing his second quarterfinals in a Masters 1000 event, misfired a drop shot, conceding the first break of the contest to his opponent, who took a 2-1 lead.
In the sixth set, the Hungarian failed to convert a break point, an opportunity he would not have again so soon through the match.
The 26-year-old delivered a solid performance behind his big serve - won 81 percent of the first serve points, going the distance to produce a double break as Marozan double-faulted to give away the first set, which Zverev took 6-3 in 38 minutes.
Moreover, the 21-time ATP titlist performance on the return made an advantage, recording a return rate of 185 compared to his adversary’s 63.
The 24-year-old from Hungary, who made it through his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal last year in Shanghai, improved his game, executing drop shots with exquisite accuracy while battling across a tight second set that went with serves until the German broke to close out 7-5.
Overall, Zverev’s consistency got the better of the World No. 57, playing in his fourth career ATP 1000 tournament.
He finished with 20 winners and five unforced errors compared to Marozan’s 29 and 8, respectively.
En Route to the Last Eight and Beyond
The number one German racquet has progressed to the last four without dropping a set in Florida.
He first ousted Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, overcoming 31st seed Christopher Eubanks next.
On Tuesday, he earned his 250th victory on a hard court, cruising past 15th seed Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-4 in 69 minutes, losing only 9 points on serve.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian beat American Aleksandar Kovacevic, sixth seed Holger Rune, and Australian Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
On Tuesday, he shocked World No. 10 Alex de Minaur 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to reach the last eight in Miami, setting a clash against Zverev.
The World No. 5 will play top seed Carlos Alcaraz or in-form Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals.