Around midday, Alexander Zverev was still hitting on Practice Court Number 2 – three and a half hours later, he finally stepped onto Centre Court at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open. On Monday, the -anticipated first-round match of the World No. 2 was on the schedule. Zverev had entered the tournament at the last minute via an A+ wildcard – much to the delight of the Hamburg tennis crowd. Against American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Zverev found his rhythm right away, served with power and kept hitting the lines. The first set was a clear affair and ended 6:1 from the perspective of Germany’s top player.

The second set was no longer as one-sided, with the American getting more and more into the match. The first three service games were evenly matched, but with the point of the match, Zverev managed the break to 3:1 – chasing down a drop shot and finishing with a volley. It wasn’t yet the final turning point in a match that was ideal for Zverev to settle into this ATP 500 tournament. As one of the title favourites, he’s looking for match practice ahead of the French Open, which starts in one week.

Against Kovacevic, who managed a break for 3:4 in the second set, the 28-year-old kept trying different variations of his shot repertoire. Zverev appeared eager to attack with several approaches to the net. But the American even managed to push the set to a tiebreak. There, however, Zverev stepped up again and served better. After one hour and 34 minutes, the final score was 6:1, 7:6. He lost a bit of concentration in the second set, the German said afterwards during his on-court interview. Otherwise, he was satisfied with his performance. Zverev’s next opponent will be Frenchman Alexandre Müller on Wednesday.

Rublev with confident opening win – Collignon retires due to injury

World No. 17 Andrey Rublev started his tournament shortly before the Zverev match with a routine 6:4, 6:3 victory over Bosnia’s Damir Džumhur. Rublev needed just under 90 minutes for his straight-sets win and impressed with a consistent performance. He hit three aces and won 83 percent of his points on first serve. With the win, he extended his head-to-head record against Džumhur to 6-0. In the second round, Rublev will face Justin Engel.

In the first match of the day on Centre Court, Brandon Nakashima from the USA benefited from the retirement of Raphaël Collignon – the Belgian qualifier was unable to continue at 6:5 for Nakashima due to injury.

Justin Engel made headlines at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open on Monday evening with a major surprise. The 17-year-old from Nuremberg claimed a 7:6 (7:4), 7:6 (7:4) victory in an all-German clash against seasoned pro Jan-Lennard Struff – marking the second ATP Tour win of his career.
“Unbelievable – everything just clicked today. I’m speechless and need some time to process it,” said Engel immediately after the match. The win carried added emotional weight, as Struff once worked as Engel’s babysitter. The two have known each other for many years.

As a reward, Engel now faces a true test: in the round of 16, the rising talent – coached by former top player Philipp Kohlschreiber – will take on world No. 17 Andrey Rublev.

Engel and Struff battled from the very first point. Both players struck aggressively from the baseline, but Engel showed no signs of nerves on the big stage. With bold shot-making and strong presence on court, he held his ground against the higher-ranked Struff and capitalized on his chances in both tiebreaks with remarkable composure.
Struff, whose season has lacked rhythm so far, was unable to find the consistency that usually defines his game.

For Engel, it was an evening to remember – and perhaps the beginning of a very special week in Hamburg.