Madrid Masters: Zverev survives scare against Davidovich Fokina to reach last 16

Alexander Zverev, the top seed, edged out Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No 28 seed, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Masters at the Caja Mágica.

With Jannik Sinner still suspended, world No 2 Zverev is the top seed in Madrid this year. It is a tournament whose conditions he thrives in, but the two-time former champion had to dig deep into his reserves of resilience to come through a very tough test against a Spaniard who is a highly accomplished clay-courter himself.

Two breaks without reply for Davidovich Fokina earned him a well-deserved one-set lead after dominating the German.

The pair exchanged breaks in the middle stanza before Zverev came through a tiebreak in impressive fashion.

The final set followed the same rhythm before the world No 2 steamrolled his way to the finish line by taking the deciding tiebreak 7-0.

Zverev, ranked No 2, will play the winner of the match between No 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo and Francisco Comesana next.

Ahead of his victory, the German won against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (6-2, 6-2).

Davidovich Fokina, ranked No 29, beat Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-2, 6-3) in the previous round of the Madrid tournament.

Madrid Masters 1000, other third-round results (Caja Mágica, clay, EUR 8.055.385, most recent results first):

• Cameron Norrie vs. Gabriel Diallo
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Jacob Fearnley
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Alex De Minaur vs. Denis Shapovalov
• Damir Dzumhur vs. Matteo Arnaldi
• Frances Tiafoe vs. Alexandre Muller
• Karen Khachanov vs. Tommy Paul
• Jack Draper vs. Matteo Berrettini
• Sebastian Korda vs. Casper Ruud
• Ben Shelton vs. Jakub Mensik
• Francisco Cerundolo vs. Francisco Comesana
• Daniil Medvedev vs. Juan Manuel Cerundolo
• Taylor Fritz vs. Benjamin Bonzi
• Brandon Nakashima (31) beat Flavio Cobolli: 7-5, 6-3
• Alexander Bublik beat Andrey Rublev (7): 6-4, 0-6, 6-4