Is 2025 the year Alexander Zverev finally claims the trophy at the Terra Wortmann Open? The German tennis player and second seed began his campaign with a confident victory over Marcos Giron, winning 6-1, 6-2 in Halle. This win came just three days after his loss to Taylor Fritz in Stuttgart. Zverev’s performance was strong, securing a 79-minute victory at OWL Arena.
“It was a great match from me. I thought it was quite high level,” said Zverev. “Maybe he wanted to play a bit better than he did, but I felt like I didn’t let him play that well, which was important for me. A good start to the tournament and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Zverev’s record in Halle now stands at 19-8 according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Previously reaching finals in 2016 and 2017 and semi-finals in both 2023 and 2024, Zverev is pursuing his seventh title on home soil. Despite winning six titles in Germany, including one on clay in Munich this April, he has yet to win on German grass.
Against Giron, Zverev took control after an initial struggle by winning seven consecutive games from a score of 2-2 in the first set. His dominant serve allowed him freedom during return games; he faced no break points and won 82% of points behind his first serve.
“I just felt aggressive generally, especially on the returns,” said Zverev about his approach. “I felt like I was taking the time away from him.”
With this win, Zverev leads Giron 4-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and holds a similar record against Lorenzo Sonego, whom he will face next.
Karen Khachanov also had a successful start by defeating ‘s-Hertogenbosch finalist Zizou Bergs with scores of 7-5, 6-3. He will meet Felix Auger-Aliassime next.
In other matches, Daniil Medvedev advanced after defeating Quentin Halys with scores of 6-2, 7-5 for his 400th tour-level win. Medvedev is ranked tenth among active players for most wins.
Alex Michelsen beat Stefanos Tsitsipas with scores of 7-6(5), 7-5. Michelsen improved to a perfect record against Tsitsipas following their previous meeting at this year’s Australian Open first round.
The American player overcame challenges when serving for the match but managed to secure victory by breaking back immediately against Tsitsipas’ backhand before saving another break point as per Infosys ATP Stats.