MunichShelton downs van de Zandschulp, Darderi earns seventh straight win
April 16, 2025
BMW Open by Bitpanda
Alexander Zverev defeats his countryman Daniel Altmaier on Wednesday at the BMW Open by Bitpanda. By Andy West
Alexander Zverev’s bid to complete a hat-trick of titles at the BMW Open by Bitpanda continued to gain pace on Wednesday afternoon in Munich.
The top seed prevailed 6-3, 6-2 in an all-German battle against Daniel Altmaier at the newly upgraded clay-court ATP 500, where he has now dropped just 10 games across his opening two matches. Zverev converted four of six break points he earned against Altmaier, according to Infosys ATP Stats, ultimately sealing victory in 80 minutes.
“Just the win [made me happy],” said Zverev. “He makes it complicated. He has beaten lots of top players before. He’s beaten [Jannik] Sinner, he’s beaten me before, so he knows how to make it complicated. His shots may seem off at times, but he knows how to make it extremely complicated for the top guys, where we feel like we’re not feeling the ball well. So I’m extremely happy with the win and looking forward to the next match.”
One QF away from triple digits 😤@AlexZverev makes the last eight on tour-level for 9⃣9⃣th time in his career! @BMWOpen500 | #BMWOpen pic.twitter.com/YubIZ2ibFK
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 16, 2025
Zverev is this week aiming to equal Philipp Kohlschreiber’s record tally of three titles in Munich. The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zverev triumphed in the Bavarian city in 2017 and 2018, although his victories against Alexandre Muller and Altmaier this week mark the first time he has won consecutive matches at the event since his 2018 title run.
“They were completely different matches,” said Zverev when asked what he could improve on from his first two rounds in Munich. “In the first round against Alexandre, I was feeling the ball really well off the ground. He gave me incredible rhythm.
“Daniel doesn’t give you rhythm at all. I maybe played a bit worse from the baseline today, but I served better today, came into the net a bit better and found solutions a bit better. So there are a lot of positives to take and I’m looking forward to Friday.”
After a difficult few months in which he went 6-6 since reaching the Australian Open final, Zverev will hope his excellent opening performances in Munich are a sign of things to come. The 23-time tour-level champion will hope to maintain his form in the quarter-finals on Friday, when he takes on Tallon Griekspoor. The Dutchman later defeated wild card Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(3), 6-3.
Second seed Ben Shelton also enjoyed a comfortable second-round victory on Wednesday. The American lefty downed Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(1), 6-3 to reach his second tour-level quarter-final on clay, following his 2024 Houston title run.
Shelton, who saved three match points before overcoming Borna Gojo in the first round, won 83 per cent (33/40) of points behind his first serve in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with van de Zandschulp. With his win, the 22-year-old became the youngest American quarter-finalist in Munich since former World No. 1 Jim Courier reached the same stage aged 19 in 1990.
Shelton will play Luciano Darderi in the last eight, after he triumphed in the opening quarter-final of the day at the Iphitos Tennis Club. The Italian secured his seventh consecutive tour-level victory by rallying past Miomir Kecmanovic 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.
Darderi was 2-8 for 2025 after his second-round loss in Miami last month but has since reached an ATP Challenger Tour final in Naples, lifted his second ATP Tour trophy in Marrakech, and now won his opening two matches in Munich.
