MUNICH, May 4, 2018

No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev headlined Friday’s quarterfinals of the BMW Open by FWU. The 20-year-old defending champion eased past fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-2.

Zverev sent down seven aces, winning 72 per cent to his first serves and converted his third match point after only 62 minutes.

“I didn’t lose my serve six or seven times today. That helps,” Zverev commented on what turned out better today compared to his win over Struff at the ATP Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo two weeks ago, an encounter, in which the World No. 3 was pushed the distance.

“I served much better today and I am happy that the match didn’t last for three sets this time.”

Zverev will collide with on No. 4 seed Hyeon Chung in the semi-finals. The #NextGenATP champion edged past 2014 Munich winner Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4. Chung, who broke into the Top 20 and achieved a carrer-high World No. 19 in the ATP rankings last month, won 57 per cent of the total points played to advance in one hour and 19 minutes.

“I’m really happy to make the semi-finals two years in a row,” said Chung, who fell to Guido Pella in the stage of the final four in Munich last year. “It was really tough against a lefty, tough from the baseline and it forced me to focus all the time.”

Zverev and Chung know each other pretty well. The 21-year-old German defeated the Korean at Juniors’ level in both meetings. Chung, however, emerged victorious from both previous matches at Seniors’ level. The World No. 22 beat Zverev in Barcelona last year in straight sets and battled past the Hamburg native at the Australian Open 5-7, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 earlier this season.

“He is very solid from the baseline and doesn’t make many mistakes,” Zverev said about Chung. “He is a bit like Novak (Djokovic) at his best. We had a tough match in Melbourne. Unfortunately I lost that time but I am looking forward to tomorrow.

“His legs have become twice as strong since our days in juniors,” Zverev added with a smile. “I played a bad match in Barcelona and I hope that it will be a different outcome tomorrow. I think that he will become one of the dominant players in the future.”

Kohlschreiber continues good run of form in Munich

The two young guns will be joined in the semi-finals by three-time BMW Open champion Philipp Kohlschreiber, who eased past No. 2 seed Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain 6-4, 6-4 later in the day. The 34-year-old German capitalized on three of his four break point opportunities to secure victory in one hour and 17 minutes.

“My performance was very good today,” Kohlschreiber was pleased. “My topspin forehands to his backhand worked very well. My serve was pretty solid as well. Only my backhand needs some improvements, as I didn’t hit the ball in a clean way towards the end of the match.”

Kohlschreiber will next play Maximilian Marterer, who edged past Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first semi-final at ATP World Tour-level. The 22-year-old German saved six of the seven break points he faced, capitalizing on three of his own to prevail in one hour and 13 minutes.

“I felt really relieved when I converted the match point,” Marterer stated. “I think that I made a good job today. I was solid and remained calm in the important moments. I am just happy and look forward to the upcoming match with Philipp.”

The teammates from the TennisBase Oberhaching will meet for the first time.

Photo Gallery (by Florian Heer):