ALEXANDER ZVEREV beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets to clinch a victory over the U.S. team and get Germany’s ATP Cup campaign back on track in Sydney, Australia, yesterday. Jan-Lennard Struff withstood 34 aces in a 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-5 win over John Isner to give Germany the lead and Zverev sealed it, on his fifth match point, with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the second of the singles matches. Isner and Fritz combined for a 6-0, 6-3 win over Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the doubles. Both teams are now 1-1 in Group C. The U.S. opened with a 3-0 win over Canada and Germany was coming off a 2-1 loss to Britain. “Great effort by Jan to beat John in these conditions ... we needed that win, we needed to get on the board,” No. 3-ranked Zverev said. “It’s the second match of the season. I’m still getting into it.” Italy rebounded from its opening upset loss to Australia to beat France in Group B. Runner-up last year to Russia, Italy took the lead when Jannik Sinner beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 7-6 (3) and secured its victory over France when Matteo Berrettini beat Ugo Humbert 6-4, 7-6 (6).(SD-Agencies) | 