Alexander Zverev edged past Pavel Kotov in the top seed's opening round at the Chengdu Open, winning the match 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1.

World No. 10 Zverev was predicted to sweep past World No. 106 Kotov in straight sets, but the 24-year-old had other ideas, with the match quickly becoming a tense and close-knit battle that saw both players fighting their nerves and frustration.

The players were equal for the first set, holding their service games and unable to get the coveted break. However, the first truly tense moment of the match occurred after Zverev won his sixth service game to ensure a tiebreak at the very least. Kotov was then fighting to hold his serve while the German player tried to secure the first break of the match.

Kotov's final service game of the first set went to a deuce and it was quite some time before the outcome was decided. Zverev initially got an advantage, and thus a break point, but hit the ball out to bring it back to deuce. From there, another unforced error from the 26-year-old gave Kotov the advantage, only for the Russian to commit a double fault.

After some more back-and-forth, it looked as though the nerves were kicking in for Kotov until he hit an outstanding drop shot under pressure to gain back the advantage. Although he then lost it again, he gained it back with an ace before the players went into the net. Once there, Kotov's clever play caused Zverev to hit the ball into the net, meaning that the first set went to a tiebreak.

The former World No. 2 took a commanding lead of 4-1 in the tiebreak, but the underdog fought back hard to level the score. However, Zverev edged ahead once more to win the tiebreak and the set 7-6 (5).

After an encouraging first set, Kotov fought with grit and determination in the second. The players continued to hold their service games again, with it looking like it might be another tiebreak. However, Kotov secured the break toward the end of the set with an outstanding game and an impressive variety of shots.

Nevertheless, Zverev came back in the third and final set looking dominant, although things could have gone differently. In the very first game, Zverev was forced to save a break point, which he managed to do so by acing his opponent. After this, he seemed less frustrated and broke Kotov twice to win the decider and progress through to the quarter-final at the Chengdu Open.