After favorite Alexander Zverev, his Davis Cup colleague Jan-Lennard Struff also started the ATP tennis tournament in Munich with success. The fourth-seeded Warsteiner prevailed in the round of 16 against last year’s finalist Botic van de Zandschulp from the Netherlands.
After a hard-fought match in bitterly cold temperatures, Struff was able to celebrate thanks to a 7:6 (7:0), 6:4. He will now face former top ten player Felix Auger-Aliassime from Canada in the quarterfinals. However, Yannick Hanfmann (Weinheim) was eliminated after a 2:6, 4:6 against the Swiss Marc-Andrea Hüsler.
In front of Struff, the tournament favorites Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz presented themselves confidently. Defending champion Rune (20), seeded number two at the BMW Open, won 6:4, 6:2 against Daniel Elahi Galan from Colombia. The twelfth in the world rankings won the clay court event in Munich in 2022 and 2023. The game against Galan had to be interrupted at the beginning due to a hailstorm. Rune now meets Hüsler.
Zverev wins after being down a set
US professional Fritz beat Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Canas 6:3, 6:1. The 26-year-old will now face Briton Jack Draper in the quarterfinals. Last year Fritz reached the semi-finals. The Californian’s game had to start two hours late due to rain – it had snowed in Munich early in the morning.
Top favorite Alexander Zverev had already reached the quarter-finals the day before. He will now play against Cristian Garin there on Friday. The Chilean, winner of the BMW Open in 2019, beat the American Alex Michelsen 6:7 (7:9), 6:2, 6:1 in the round of the best 16.
