Mission title defense successfully opened: Alexander Zverev has reached the quarter-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Munich after a hard fight. In the German duel, the top seed won 6:7 (12), 6:4 and 6:2 against Yannick Hanfmann.
On the cloud-clad MTTC Iphito, Alexander Zverev initially had minor adaptation problems with the quite blunt base. However, the third place in the world rankings was not sustainably thrown off balance.
Against his excellently laid out compatriot, the German number one won the first three break opportunities at a score of 2:1. Wildcard holder Hanfmann, who had held his own in round one against former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, however, remained stable.
A simple opening gallop for the favourite could also not be spoken of in the following. With a fine stop-praise combination, Hanfmann brought the 21-year-old hamburger into predicament. Although Zverev remained untouched on his own serve, he was forced into the tiebreak shortly afterwards.
The short decision was then something for thriller lovers: Hanfmann left six set points unused, twice Zverev had the chance to take the lead. In the end, the world number 118 profited from too long forehand of last year’s winner.
Hanfmann also stepped on the accelerator in the second act, but the 26-year-old from Karlsruhe still had to accept the set equalization. After break and rebreak in the middle of the round, Zverev’s better return qualities prevailed in the final phase.
After the early break in the final set, the fair was over: Physically weakened and mentally exhausted, Hanfmann no longer had much to oppose. The comfortable 5-0 lead melted down to 5-2, but after 2:09 hours Zverev still made victory perfect with his third match point.
In the quarter-finals, the unofficial German Championships in Munich will enter the next round: Zverev will have to deal with Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday, whom he defeated in three sets at the same spot a year ago.
“That was a brutally close match last year,” Struff remembered, but he did well in the last match so far: Two weeks ago in Monte Carlo, he also lost to Zverev in three sets, 4:6, 6:4, 4:6, “I already have a chance,” said Struff, but also added: “With Alex you don’t have to talk about quality. This will definitely be a difficult match.”