Alexander Zverev fails at the first appearance tennisnet.com

Alexander Zverev was eliminated at the BMW open 2023 in the round of 16. The two-time Munich champion lost to the Australian Christopher O’Connell 6:7 (2) and 4:6.

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Here is the match to read in the live ticker.

It was uncomfortably cool, the pitch damp and slow, the balls heavy – and Alexander Zverev is said to be very reluctant to play on his birthday. The Hamburger, who has been 26 since Thursday, was apparently also influenced by all of this in his opening match at the ATP tournament in Munich. Wearing a long-sleeved shirt and leggings, Olympic champion Christopher O’Connell from Australia lost 6:7 (2:7), 4:6 and, like last year, has to leave after the round of 16.

On the Center Court on the MTTC Iphitos facility, Zverev never really got into the game. O’Connell, only number 82 in the world rankings, played solidly, while the German number one saw a constant alternation between good shots and supposedly all too easy mistakes. Zverev’s rebreak to 4: 4 in the second set, which was enthusiastically celebrated by the audience, also proved to be a flash in the pan. After the following break and a total of 1:56 hours, O’Connell used his first match point.

Zverev not a friend of the cold

The day after the continuous rain in Munich, the external conditions were anything but favorable for Zverev. “When it’s cold, it’s not good for my game,” he emphasized before his opening match, while also pointing out: “When it was warm, I’ve won the tournament twice.” That was in 2017 and 2018. Since then he had failed twice in the quarter-finals in Munich – now, like last year, against eventual tournament winner Holger Rune, it was again the first and last match.

The defending champion from Denmark, on the other hand, started the tournament successfully and confidently in Match before Zverev. Rune easily defeated Yannick Hanfmann from Karlsruhe in his round of 16 after 94 minutes of play 6:3, 6:4. The 19-year-old world number seven is number one in Munich. The cold didn’t bother him. “I’m from Denmark,” he said with a smile, “at the beginning of the season there are days like this and sometimes it’s even worse.”

Otte also eliminated

Zverev could have met his Davis Cup colleague Oscar Otte in the quarterfinals. The 29-year-old from Cologne had already lost 0:6, 6:3, 3:6 to Flavio Cobolli, who was ranked 209th in the world after constant ups and downs. It was his tenth loss in his 14th match on the tour that year.

After knee surgery last July, Otte is still looking for his best form. Since moving into the third round of Wimbledon, the Davis Cup player, who has fallen from 36th to 94th in the world rankings, has not won two consecutive victories in the main draw of an ATP tournament.

Here is the individual tableau in Munich

munichmap

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