Alexander Zverev beats brother Mischa in Washington

In the first all-Zverev battle at tour level, younger brother Alexander got the better of Mischa to move through to the Citi Open quarterfinals in Washington DC.

Alexander, the No.1 seed and defending champion in the US capital, sealed a 6-3 7-5 win in one hour and 51 minutes on the tournament’s stadium court.

Zverev joins fellow ‘Next Gen’ star Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarters after the Greek 19-year-old beat Australia’s James Duckworth in straight sets.

First all Zverev brothers singles showdown goes to Sasha as he defeats Mischa 6-3 7-5 in 3rd Round in Washington..After match both bros signed six signed balls together & hit them into crowd…pretty cool! #ATP #CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/iBmhUNIQ9N

— John Horn (@SportsHorn) August 3, 2018

Rounding out the last-16 line-up on Thursday were Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev and Noah Rubin, who won their second-round matches at the rain-affected hard-court event.

Later on Thursday, David Goffin crushed Fraces Tiafoe 6-0 6-3 to become the third player through to the quarterfinals. He will next face Tsitsipas.

The all-Zverev affair unfolded in a slightly surprising manner given Mischa, the more naturally aggressive player thanks to his serve-and-volley style, advanced to the net less frequently than his younger brother.

Alexander finished the match with 33 winners to Mischa’s 16 and came to the net 21 times – six more than Mischa.

On his second match point, ‘Sascha’ approached the net for that 21st time and used soft hands to pick up a half-volley that Mischa could not return.

(????@TennisTV ) pic.twitter.com/UyzWgeWXQD

— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) August 3, 2018

“(It was) very special. Who can say you played your brother in one of the biggest tournaments in the world?” Alexander told atpworldtour.com.

“It was unbelievably special. I hope this is not the last time. I hope we play a final one day or something like that. So hopefully (this is) the first of many.”

Mischa, speaking to Tennis Channel, added : “We walked back, and the crowd was cheering, I almost had tears in my eyes. I was like, ‘This feels so special. I wonder what my parents are thinking right now?’

“I needed a few seconds to actually bite my tongue and focus. To me, that was incredibly special.”

The Zverev brothers are also playing together in the doubles event, and are currently leading in their first-round match against No.1 seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.