Alexander Zverev needed three sets to win his first match since his French Open title while Paris finalist Flavio Cobolli and title holder Alexander Bublik crashed out of the Halle Open grass court tournament on Tuesday.
Top seed Zverev overcame a second-set lapse has he won his first-round match 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 against Czech player Vit Kopriva in 2 hours 9 minutes.
"Grass is never easy for me. But I won, and that is the most important thing for me," Zverev said.
Twice finalist Zverev is making a 10th attempt to win the Halle tournament. The event is among tune-ups for Wimbledon which starts on June 29 and where Zverev has never gone beyond the fourth round.
Zverev beat Cobolli in five sets for his first career title at the grand slams in Paris on June 7, and the 10th-ranked Italian also lost his grass season opener, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) against American Frances Tiafoe.
“Obviously, he’s a hell of a player and had a hell of a season,” Tiafoe told ATPTour.com.
“But I knew he was coming out for his first match on grass and you have to find your feet under you, and obviously he’s got to come down to reality after the final. That’s never easy, especially on a whole different surface."
Bublik, the winner last year and in 2023, shared Cobolli's fate as the Kazakh went out 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 against Italian Mattia Bellucci.
Brazilian teenasger João Fonseca, who beat Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller at Roland Garros last month, lost as well, 6-2, 6-2 to world number 59 Yannick Hanfmann who celebrated his 100th victory on the ATP Tour.
"My first win here on Centre Court – that means a great deal to me," Hanfmann said after his dominant performance in 66 minutes.
Second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Nuno Borges 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios meanwhile had to withdraw from the tournament at short notice after sustaining an injury to his right knee during training ahead of his first-round match against Sunday's Stuttgart winner Ben Shelton.
