Alexander Zverev of Hamburg, Germany has won the 2023 European Open. The tournament victory was significant for Zverev as it not only came in his birthplace of Hamburg, but it was his first ATP title since tearing several ligaments in his ankle at the 2021 French Open, when he was forced to withdraw against Rafael Nadal of Spain.
Zverev was the fourth seed in Hamburg and defeated Laslo Djere of Serbia in the final, 7-5, 6-3. The match lasted one hour and 50 minutes. From a statistical standpoint, the key to the match was the fact that Zverev made the most of his break point opportunities. While Djere actually had one more break point chance (five compared to four), Zverev broke Djere thrice in four opportunities, while Djere broke Zverev once in five opportunities.
It should one noted that Zverev won the title without having to face a seeded opponent. Along the way, he beat Alex Molcan of Slovakia 6-0, 6-3 in the first round, German wildcard Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 7-5 in the second round, Luca Van Assche of France 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. and Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Fascinatingly, Zverev becomes the third player this year to win an ATP title without having to face a seeded player along the way. He follows Jannik Sinner of Italy, who won the 2023 Open Sud de France in Montpellier, and Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who won the Open 13 in Marseille, France.
Sinner only had to win three matches in winning Montpellier. That is because he had a first round bye, and Marton Fucsovics of Hungary was forced to withdraw due to injury. Sinner then beat Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the quarterfinals, Arthur Fils of France in the semifinals, and Maxime Cressy of the United States in the final. Hurkacz won four matches in winning Provence. He beat Leandro Riedl of Switzerland in the second round, Mikael Ymer of Sweden in the quarterfinals, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the semifinals, and Benjamin Bonzi of France in the final.
