MUNICH: World No. 3 Alexander Zverev got his clay court season back on track with a 6-4, 6-1 over Frenchman Alexandre Muller in the first round of the ATP event in Munich on Monday.
The German lost his opener at last week’s Monte Carlo Masters to Italian Matteo Berrettini, missing the chance to bump Jannik Sinner from the world the No. 1 position.
Instead, that defeat and the Carlos Alcaraz’s victory in the final on Sunday saw Zverev dropping down a place in the rankings and dented his preparations for next month’s French Open.
On Monday, Zverev broke his opponent in the first game. Muller broke back at 3-3 before Zverev recovered to win the set in 47 minutes.
The No. 1 seed found his rhythm in the second, breaking his opponent three times.
The 27-year-old completed victory in one hour and 20 minutes.
Zverev has played six tournaments since losing the Australian Open final in three sets to Sinner in January, but has not made it past the quarterfinals at any.
“I’m very happy with the match,” Zverev told Sky Germany: “I want to play my best tennis again — and this was a very good step in the right direction.”
Since winning back-to-back titles in Munich in 2017 and 2018, Zverev has not made it past the final eight.
He will face either countryman Daniel Altmaier or Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin in the quarterfinals.
Earlier on Monday, world No. 15 Ben Shelton made a stuttering start to the tournament, coming from a set down to beat world No. 410 Borna Gojo 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7-3).
Shelton, seeded second in Munich, fought off three match points, winning both of his sets via tiebreak in two hours and 24 minutes.
Defending champion Jan-Lennard Struff, who beat American Taylor Fritz in the final last season, opens his campaign against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday.
