'Remarkable discipline for training, competition, sacrifice, perfection, a little crazy but a legend of a bloke. Bravo Andy'.
Ferrer, 37, announced earlier in the year he would end his 19-year career at the Madrid Open and prolonged his time on court by a day by beating Roberto Bautista Agut on Tuesday, but was easily overpowered by world number four Zverev.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Teenager Taylor Fritz earned the chance to face his hero Roger Federer after the American defeated an unranked French qualifier on Tuesday to reach the second round in Stuttgart. Federer will be playing his first match in nearly a month after recovering from back pain and skipping the French Open, as he ramps up his preparations for Wimbledon. Number 65 Fritz has had time on court with the Swiss legend -- a Wimbledon training session a year ago - but booked his place into the match of his life with a 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-1 win over Fabrice Martin on the grass at the Weissenhof Club. Fritz, 18, said he will not worry with nerves when he faces one of the best players on the planet. "I have nothing to lose, there is no pressure on me, I don't think there will be any nerves." The teenager said he had watched and admired Federer as a boy aged 11.
Novak Djokovic kept his juggernaut rolling at the China Open by improving to 26-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over local hope Zhang Ze on Thursday.
Australian Bernard Tomic has hit back at Roger Federer's suggestion that he is a long way from being a top 10 player, saying the 17-times grand slam champion faced a quality deficit of his own compared to Novak Djokovic.
Caroline Wozniacki overcame a mid-match wobble and withstood a barrage of big hitting to get her WTA Finals title defence back on track with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Petra Kvitova at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Maria Sharapova will be back in the US Open spotlight on Wednesday hoping she can come up with a winning encore to her electrifying first round victory over second seed Simona Halep.
It was a triumphant return to the tour for Djokovic
Ash Barty beat eighth seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) in Beijing to seal her spot in the final of the China Open on Saturday.
After a brief interruption when the players were locked at 5-5 in the opening set, Federer saved two set points in the tiebreak and held firm to gain the upper hand in the contest.
Britain's Andy Murray enjoyed a routine win over Argentina's Juan Monaco to ease into the third round of the tennis tournament at the Rio Games on Tuesday, while Spain's world number nine David Ferrer was knocked out.
Big-serving Isner reaches Montreal second round
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
It was the Russian's first competitive match since she withdrew from the St Petersburg Open in January.
Nadal, playing his first match since losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals, fell behind 5-2 in the tiebreak before roaring back to prevail in his first career meeting with world number 53 Evans.
World number two Simona Halep beat Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 in the China Open third round on Wednesday for her first win over the Russian in eight attempts.
Images from Sunday's action at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The Russian five-times Grand Slam champion struggled for rhythm initially on the low-bouncing grasscourt at the Mallorca Open but picked up the pace to beat Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8), 6-0.
Images from Day 6 of the US Open in New York, on Saturday.
Ramkumar Ramanathan's good run at the Chennai Open continued as he combined with compatriot N Sriram Balaji to knock out fourth seeded Kiwi pair of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniel on Wednesday and storm into the doubles quarter-finals.
Rafael Nadal extended his astonishing winning run on clay to 42 consecutive sets as he reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Slovakia's Martin Klizan on Friday. The defending champion will face David Goffin on Saturday after the Belgian beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2.
Czech defending champion Katerina Siniakova fended off Maria Sharapova in a fiercely contested match at the Shenzhen Open on Friday to set up a final with world number one Simona Halep.
Ramkumar Ramanathan recorded the second-biggest win of his career by shocking world number 98 Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the opening round of the ATP Chennai Open but there was no end to Somdev Devvarman's struggle as he was knocked out of the singles event, in Chennai on Tuesday.
Images from Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
IMAGES from Day 8 of the US Open on Monday
Images from all the action from Day 1 of the Wimbledon on Monday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
IMAGES from Day 3 of the US Open in New York on Wednesday.