ATP: Munich: Alexander Zverev wins quarter-final duel against Jan-Lennard Struff

Alexander Zverev did justice to his favourite role at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Munich and beat his Davis Cup team mate Jan-Lennard Struff in the German quarter-finals. Top seeded defending champion Zverev left the Centre Court after a clear 6:3, 6:2 and now faces a special challenge in the semifinal round.

After 1:02 hours Alexander Zverev turned his third match point and was visibly relieved. The 21-year-old could rely on his serve from the start compared to his opening victory against wildcard holder Yannick Hanfmann (6:7, 6:4, 6:2).

It is significant that the third in the world rankings won the first set with a service winner after almost half an hour in front of the eyes of his family who were almost completely assembled in the box. Previously, Zverev had broken Struff twice, beating a total of five aces.

The Warsteiner Struff, number 62 in the ATP ranking, fought back as hard as he could, but had to give up his 1:2 serve at the beginning of the second round. The 1.98-metre tall Zverev was the more dominant player at the MTTC Iphitos and impressively underlined his ambitions.

The title win in Munich in 2017 was a good omen for Zverev. Only a few weeks later he won his first Masters title in Rome – by beating Novak Djokovic (Serbia) in the final.

However, a special challenge awaits “Sascha” already on Saturday, which is to become a revenge. In the semi-final, the younger Zverev brother has to deal with Hyeon Chung in fourth place in Munich, also a representative of the “NextGen”, the so-called next generation – with the huge potential for great deeds.

The 21-year-old from South Korea has won the two previous duels with Germany’s number one. And above all, Zverev’s last defeat against Chung is still in extremely bad memory. At the Australian Open in Melbourne in January he lost the third round – and lost the fifth and decisive set against the nimble Asian 0:6.

For Chung, the tournament in Bavaria is the first appearance on sand this season. On Friday he completed his obligatory quarter-final task against the former Munich winner Martin Klizan (Slovakia) at 6:3, 6:4.