Alexander Zverev barely reached the second round of the ATP tournament in Halle. There is a German duel there.
Afterwards he was relieved. “It was a great atmosphere. I think the fans here are always great,” said Alexander Zverev after his first appearance in Halle in Westphalia after the Grand Slam success in Paris: “And of course, when it got more difficult, they were there. It was fun to be on the pitch.”
Alexander Zverev celebrates his victory in the first round match in Halle/Westphalia
The fans support the first German Grand Slam winner in 30 years in his first match after the successful final at the French Open. And that was necessary.
Kopriva enforces Decision sentence
Against his opponent, the Czech Vit Kopriva, the German started the game well on Tuesday (June 16, 2026) with a service win and a subsequent break. Afterwards, both players played their serve games, but Kopriva was no longer able to catch up with the break deficit. A solid performance in his first appearance of the grass season was enough for Zverev to win the first set.
The second round seemed very even at the start. The world number 64, Kopriva, kept up well with Zverev – neither player gave a service until the score was 4:4. However, Zverev then earned two break points, both of which Kopriva fended off and took the lead 5:4. And the French Open winner actually showed nerves and gave Kopriva a break chance – which he used to equalize the set using the edge of the net.
Short break in the third movement
Kopriva now played freer and more stable, Zverev, on the other hand, seemed a little surprised by the opponent. But the French Open winner, as so often in his games, was able to rely on his good serve and used his own service to make it 1-1.
In the third game of the third round, the fans saw two strange scenes: First the game had to be briefly interrupted because the medics in the stadium were called to an operation and the radio made contact with the referee’s microphone – so the game was disrupted. Shortly afterwards, Zverev saw Kopriva’s ball go out of bounds and even brought the ball to the referee. The point was awarded to the Czech despite the protest.
Zverev only confidently at the end
The German seemed annoyed by these little things but still responded like a champion: without a point, Zverev equalized to make it 2-2. But again in the subsequent service game he began to complain several times and complained twice that balls were out of bounds.
After minutes of deuces, Zverev got decisive help from the Czech: a double fault caused the break.
Next up against strong hemp man
Grass “is the surface where I have had the least success in my career,” said Zverev: “But I know that I can also show good tennis on this surface.” And that’s what he did.
This loss of serve broke Kopriva’s resistance – Zverev marched away to win the set 6-2 without any problems. In round two there will be a German duel with Yannik Hanfmann, who surprisingly eliminated Joao Fonseca.
“Yannick played a great match,” said Zverev: “He won the doubles tournament in Stuttgart last week. I assume that he feels very comfortable. I will prepare very well for the challenge.”
Our sources:
- Live game Alexander Zverev – Vit Kopriva on “Eurosport”
- ATP world rankings
Broadcast: WDR.de “Alexander Zverev is in the round of 16,” June 16, 2026 6:13 p.m
