Alexander Zverev started his quest for a second Hamburg Open title by beating Aleksandar Kovacevic, overcoming a second-set wobble to triumph 6-1 7-6 (7-5).

Zverev, who won the title in 2023 and was runner-up to Arthur Fils in his hometown last year, looked set to cruise through after making a confident start.

He only needed 27 minutes to take the opener before building a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Kovacevic broke for the first time in game seven before holding firm to force a tie-break.

Zverev won the first four points of the tie-break to establish a commanding position, eventually generating three match points at 6-3.

Though Kovacevic saved the first two of those, it was third time lucky for Zverev, who teed up a second-round meeting with Alexandre Muller.

Meanwhile, 2020 champion Andrey Rublev eased past Damir Dzumhur 6-4 6-3. The Russian will face either Jan-Lennard Struff or Justin Engel in the next round and is seeded to meet Zverev in the last four.

Home hero gets it done 

Top seed @AlexZverev kicks off his Hamburg campaign with a straight-sets victory over Kovacevic 6-1 7-6(5)@hamburgopenatp | #bitpandahamburgopen pic.twitter.com/QC9T8H4Re9

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 19, 2025

Data Debrief: Lucky for some

Zverev has now won 13 of his last 15 matches in Hamburg, having enjoyed two straight runs to the final of his home event.

The world number three now faces an opponent against whom he has a perfect head-to-head record. 

He has beaten Muller in both of their previous meetings, including at another ATP 500 event on clay in Germany – last month's Munich Open.