Alexander Zverev’s quest for a second Mexican Open title has come to an end after he was dumped out of the tournament by compatriot Daniel Altmaier in the first round.
The German top seed suffered a shock 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, loss to Altmaier in what is his earliest defeat at a tournament since Tokyo last October. Zverev hit more winners (25-24) and fewer unforced errors (26-32) than his opponent but came undone on his serve. In the decider, he got broken early on and then failed to convert five break point opportunities throughout the set. Paving the way for Altmaier to record his first-ever win over a top 10 player on a hard court.
Zverev is the latest top name to crash out of the tournament, which is being held in Acapulco. Earlier this week, fourth seed Taylor Fritz and seventh seed Tommy Paul also lost their opening matches. As a result of these defeats, at least one unseeded player is guaranteed to reach at least the semi-final stage.
There was better fortune for Holger Rune who began his campaign with a convincing 6-2, 6-3, win over Michael Mmoh. The Dane is playing in his first tournament since reuniting with former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
“It’s great. Everything is how I like it,” atptour.com quoted Rune as commenting about his new coaching setup. “We might both agree that I executed [the game plan] very well. It just feels good.
“I’m just trying to build on every match. I thought it’s a great start, because It’s a very strong field in Acapulco, so you’ll have to play great tennis to be able to go deep and potentially win the tournament.”
Rune will next play qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic who knocked out last week’s Los Cabos champion Jordan Thompson in three sets.
Finally, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Russia’s Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-4, in just over an hour. The Greek has pledged to donate $1000 for every ace he hit in the tournament to a fundraiser set up to support Alcapulco’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Otis. In his opening match, he produced five aces and will therefore donate $5000.
“It’s a great feeling, I hope I can do more and contribute to the community”. He commented.
Tsitsipas will next pay Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, who beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
