Alexander Zverev reached the second round at the ATP tournament at the Hamburg Rothenbaum. The world ranking list won 6: 1, 7: 6 (7: 5) against the American Aleksandar Kovacevic and only wiggled at the end of the second set. In the duel of the generations, Justin Engel Routinier defeated Jan-Lennard Struff.
Zverev did not disappoint the expectations of visitors who had come to the tennis stadium despite the HSV’s promotion party. The world ranking third initially played furiously and showed an impeccable performance against number 80 in the world, served strongly, played focused and consistently.
In the second set, 28-year-olds already clearly headed for victory course in a 4-1 lead, but suddenly excitement came up. As if out of nowhere, the American managed a break to 3: 4, which thus fueled properly self -confidence, and finally even the equalization to 4: 4.
The tie break decides in the second set
Zverev stayed calm, confidently brought his service games – the starking Kovacevic too. It went into the tie break, which the German number one won, despite some negligence after a good one and a half hours with 7: 5. The opponent in the round of 16 on Wednesday is the Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
“The first one and a half sentences were almost perfect. I am looking forward to the next matches and enjoy being here,” said Zverev under the cheers of his fans. He patiently signed numerous autographs and made many little tennis fans happy. The 28-year-old is number one by canceling the world ranking of Jannik Sinner.
Zverev wants to collect before French Open Matchpraxis
Because of the unfavorable appointment in the week before the French Open, Zverev actually did not intend to play in his hometown this year. Above all, the coaching team around his father and brother Mischa had pushed to come to Hamburg after the previously mixed sandplace season in order to collect match practice and self-confidence. The French Open in Paris start on Sunday.
“I’m really happy to play in my home country. I have not won too many tournaments in the past few weeks. So I want to get a few emotions here before going to the French Open.”
– Alexander Zverev
In 2023 the local hero won the tournament in the Rothenbaum, last year he had to surrender to the Frenchman Arthur Fils in the final.
Angels strikes surprisingly struff
In the evening, Talent Justin Engel caused a fist -thick surprise. The Nuremberg, as an outsider in German, prevailed with veteran Jan-Lennard Struff 7: 6 (7: 4), 7: 6 (7: 4) and thus celebrated his second victory on the ATP tour. As a wage, a real top-class player is waiting for the hope of the DTB: it will be in the round of 16 against the world rankings-17. Andrej Rublew from Russia.
The highly ambitious angel and struff, who was supervised by ex-professional Philipp Kohlschreiber, fought a tight duel right from the start. Both played aggressively from the baseline – angels never hid themselves and also showed a confident body language. Struff, who plays a weak season, did not radiate the expected sovereignty.
In addition to angels who had received a wildcard of the organizer, another 17-year-old had started in the main field in Diego Dedura. The Berliner lost to the Italian Luciano Darderi 1: 6, 4: 6. Daniel Altmaier will deal with the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliasime on Tuesday.
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Hamburg Journal | 19.05.2025 | 7:30 p.m.
