Reigning champion Lorenzo Musetti made a winning start to his title defence at the Hamburg European Open on Tuesday when he cruised past Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-1.
Competing under the roof at the ATP 500 clay-court event, Musetti combined guile with power to outfox Ymer. The 21-year-old Italian won 76 per cent (23/34) of his first-serve points and broke Ymer’s serve five times to triumph after one hour and 16 minutes.
“It took a little bit to get the momentum going. It was not easy because the opponent was playing well, pretty aggressive from the beginning,” Musetti said. “In the end I think I found the right balance, the right rhythm. I have good memories from last year and I am really feeling good here.”
Musetti is chasing his third tour-level trophy and first of the season, having also won in Naples in October 2022. The third seed, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the title match in Germany last year, will face Jozef Kovalik in the second round after the Slovakian defeated Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-6(6), 6-4.
Musetti now holds a 15-10 record on clay this season. The World No. 18’s deepest runs this year were semi-final appearances at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona in April and at the ATP 250 in Bastad last week.
[ATP APP]
In other action, Alexander Zverev dispatched Alex Molcan 6-0, 6-3 to earn his 50th tour-level win against left-handers.
The fourth seed, who is a two-time semi-finalist in Hamburg (2014, 2019), dictated throughout the one-hour, 28-minute clash, not facing a break point to reach the second round.
With his 29th tour-level win of the season, Zverev improved to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Molcan. The German will next meet countryman Maximilian Marterer after the wild card defeated German wild card Rudolf Molleker 7-6(2), 6-2.
#NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils snapped a four-match losing streak when he defeated Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan 7-5, 7-5 on his Hamburg debut.
The 19-year-old, currently fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, earned his 11th tour-level win of the season after one hour and 45 minutes. The Lyon champion Fils next plays eighth seed Miomir Kecmanovic or Dusan Lajovic.
Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also advanced, beating Argentine Pedro Cachin 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 57 minutes. The seventh seed is making his third appearance in Hamburg, where he reached the quarter-finals last year.
Davidovich Fokina will meet #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the second round. Yannick Hanfmann reached the second round after fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo was forced to retire. The German Hanfmann led the Argentine 4-6, 6-2, 4-2.