Alexander Zverev has advanced to the round of 16 at the 33rd TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. Nine days after his triumph in the French Open final, the world No. 3 faced some challenges in his first grass-court match of the season against the Czech player Vit Kopriva, but ultimately prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 after 2:09 hours.
Zverev, who is competing in Halle for the tenth time and is aiming to win the title for the first time, established his dominance early in the first set in front of the enthusiastic crowd at the heristo-arena. The German broke his opponent’s serve for the first time at 2–0, while he himself did not have to fend off a single break point throughout the entire set.
As usual, his serve was particularly reliable. 74 percent of his first serves landed in the court, and with six aces, Zverev went on to win 76 percent of the points. These numbers didn’t change dramatically in the second set—and yet, the spectators suddenly witnessed a completely different picture.
While Kopriva had played erratically in the first set—especially on his own serve—the world No. 64 thoroughly turned his game around in the second set. The unforced errors became fewer, and with them, Zverev suddenly found himself in a tougher spot. Everything remained even until 5-4. Then, out of nowhere, it was Kopriva who created his very first break point with a backhand winner. With a bit of luck and the ball grazing the net, the Czech actually converted to make it 6–4, silencing the arena—at least briefly.
The underdog held his own in the third set as well, but ultimately had to concede defeat to the better player. Zverev—constantly spurred on by the German fans—stepped up the pressure at 2–2 and earned four break points. Kopriva finally cracked under the pressure with a double fault. On his own serve, the Hamburg native didn’t let anything slip, even adding another break and ultimately converting his first match point to win 6–2.
In the second round on Thursday, he’ll face off in a highly anticipated all-German matchup against Yannick Hanfmann, who delivered an outstanding performance in his 6-2, 6-2 victory over rising star Joao Fonseca. The only previous meeting between the two on the tour went to Zverev in three sets in Munich in 2018.
