Zverev continues to look for his form
After 99 minutes he converted his second match point. After a mixed year so far, Zverev wanted to turn things around in Munich. Before the tournament started, he even assured: “I’m here with the feeling that a lot can change and I’ll have the best year of my life.
Instead, he now has to find his form with regard to the two Masters in Madrid and Rome – and above all the French Open in Paris, which begins on May 22nd. In cool weather, Zverev, who wore a black long-sleeved shirt under a blue sleeveless shirt, was caught off guard by his cheeky opponent: he gave up his first service game to zero.
Rune disenchants the tournament favorite
He fought back with difficulty, made the rebreak to 3: 4, lost his own service again, missed two break chances in the ninth game and had to give up the first round on Rune’s sixth set ball.
It didn’t get any better in the second set. Zverev continued to reveal problems with serve and return. Rune, who won the French Open at the juniors in 2019 and was number one in the world rankings, continued to put the pressure on and only allowed a breakball in the second set – which Zverev could not use.
After a cool farewell, he left the place with his head bowed. Previously, Daniel Altmaier had also failed in the round of 16 after his opening win over Philipp Kohlschreiber. The 23-year-old from Kempen, who had recently improved to 69th in the world rankings, lost 6-2, 6-4 to the seventh-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.