MUNICH, April 20, 2023
For the second year in a row, Alexander Zverev lost his opening-round match at the BMW Open by American Express. The World No. 16, who fell to Holger Rune in Munich last season suffered another early exit at the ATP 250 clay-court event on Thursday against Christopher O’Connell.
The 28-year-old Australian overcame Zverev 7-6(2), 6-4 to earn the biggest win of his season after one hour and 58 minutes. At five degrees Celsius and a light, icy wind, the German had problems from the start. O’Connell withstood nine aces and broke Zverev’s serve three times.
2nd Top-20 win 🙌
Christopher O’Connell battles past Alexander Zverev 7-6(2) 6-4 in Munich. #BMWOpenbyAmex pic.twitter.com/D7pZB1RkXr
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 20, 2023
“It’s definitely tough playing Zverev here in front of his home crowd. The atmosphere was awesome but it was super cold. I am delighted to get through,” O’Connell said during his on-court interview and added with a smile. “This is the coldest weather I have ever played in. I was not prepared to play in these conditions. It took me a while to get warmed up.”
Into his third tour-level quarterfinal of the year, O’Connell will next meet Flavio Cobolli after the #NextGenATP Italian defeated home favourite Oscar Otte 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour and 46 minutes.
Zverev, who lifted the trophy on home soil in Munich in 2017 and 2018, was celebrating his 25th birthday. “The last few years I’ve had a hard time dealing with the pressure of playing in Germany. I put the pressure on myself and I know how the last few years have gone here. I haven’t played well here since 2018,” said Zverev. He will now head to Madrid, where he has clinched the title twice (2018, 21).
“In practice I play wonderfully, I haven’t lost more than two matches and not a single set. But in competition it’s completely different,” said Zverev and hopes that after the ‘every year again’ early exit in Munich a title win at the Masters in Madrid will follow.
Rune makes winning start
Later in the afternoon, Holger Rune made a winning start to his title defence when he defeated German wild card entry Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-4.
The 19-year-old from Denmark was ranked World No. 70 when he earned his maiden tour-level title at the clay-court event 12 months ago. This week he returns to Munich at a career-high No. 7 after reaching the final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
In the pair’s first meeting Rune quickly found his range on Centre Court of the MTTC Iphitos, taking the ball early to hit through Hanfmann. The top seed timed the ball cleanly off both wings and broke his opponent’s serve three times to prevail after one hour and 25 minutes.
“It was a tough match,” Rune said. “I am happy with the way I played. It is difficult to play the first match, different conditions. Thank you guys for the support. I really love this tournament. I had made my breakthrough with my first title here last year, so it is special to be back.”
Rune will next take on 2019 Munich champion Cristian Garin of Chile, who edged past Lorenzo Sonego from Italy 6-3, 7-6(3) in one hour and 47 minutes.
Fritz advances
Taylor Fritz continued his strong start to the European clay-court season with a debut win at the BMW Open by American Express. The No. 2 seed from the United States backed up his run to the Monte-Carlo semi-finals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory against Marton Fucsovics of Hungary to advance in almost two hours of play.
Too good, Taylor 🔥@Taylor_Fritz97 battles past Marton Fucsovics in his Munich debut, 4-6 6-3 6-3. #BMWOpenbyAmex pic.twitter.com/fkzP9I4dN4
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 20, 2023
Fritz will seek his 30th career victory on clay against either Dominic Thiem of Austria or eighth seed Marc-Andrea Huesler on Friday.
In other action, Aslan Karatsev from Russia clawed past Daniel Altmaier 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, while US-American Marcos Giron outlasted Alexander Ritschard from Switzerland 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
