Zverev zones in on zapping those opening-round jitters

CINCINNATI - He's the hottest man in tennis after winning trophies at Montreal and Washington this month, but Alexander Zverev would like to escape his opening round without a scare for once.

The 20-year-old German, a career-best seventh in this week's ATP rankings, could complete a hat-trick of titles this week at Cincinnati in the last major tune-up for the US Open, which starts on Aug 28 in New York.

Zverev's opening matches in both championship runs were nail-biters, with Australia's Jordan Thompson falling 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) at Washington and France's Richard Gasquet squandering three match points in losing 6-3, 4-6 7-6 (3) at Montreal.