Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the second round in Barcelona while Alexander Zverev survived a scare in Munich.
After losing his world number one ranking last week, Alcaraz bounced back in fine fashion as he defeated Otto Virtanen 6-4 6-2.
The Spaniard was flawless in victory as he moved into the second round in-front of his home fans.
There will be extra motivation for Alcaraz in Barcelona this year after losing last year’s final to Holger Rune.
Speaking after the match Alcaraz was happy to be back in front of home support once again, “It feels great to be back and to get another win in front of my people in Barcelona, it means everything,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.
“This morning was my first practice here to adapt to the conditions. Different conditions to Monte-Carlo but overall I am really happy with the way that I played.”
In the second round, Alcaraz will now face Tomas Machac after he defeated Sebastian Baez in three sets with the Spaniard’s potential quarter-finalist being Andrey Rublev.
Zverev survives Kecmanovic scare
Meanwhile in Munich, Alexander Zverev kept his title hopes alive after surviving a last set tiebreak against Miomir Kecmanovic.
The three-time champion came through 6-3 3-6 7-6(2) and hit a tweener in the tiebreak as he was clutch under pressure.
After the match Zverev admitted he served poorly and talked through his magical moment in Munich, “I was really serving poorly the entire match, so I gave him a lot of looks on second serves,” Zverev told the ATP website.
“At some point he was playing like a wall, he wasn’t missing. Obviously today the temperatures don’t help an aggressive style of tennis. It’s tough to hit a winner, but in the end I won and that’s the most important thing.
“It was a tie-break, so it wasn’t like a show-off shot. It was actually the only way I could have hit it. Luckily for me it worked out. I’m not somebody that has a lot of ‘highlights’, I feel like, so definitely one today.”
Next up for Zverev is Gabriel Diallo as the German looks to win a fourth title in Germany.
