Zverev surges past Shelton, completes Munich hat-trick

Alexander Zverev celebrated his 28th birthday in style on Sunday at the BMW Open by Bitpanda, where he soared to a record-equalling third Munich title.

The home favourite produced an assured performance to defeat second seed Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4 and claim his 24th tour-level trophy. Zverev was imperious on serve throughout the championship match, in which he did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“It’s extremely special, I always love winning tournaments in Germany,” said Zverev, who earned his first title of the season. “It’s probably the most special thing I can do. It’s definitely a great birthday present, let’s put it that way.”

BIRTHDAY BOY COMPLETES THE HATTRICK 🏆🏆🏆@AlexZverev marks his 28th with a dominant 6-2 6-4 display against Shelton to seal another home-soil triumph! 🇩🇪@BMWOpen500 | #BMWOpen pic.twitter.com/l71bkWMmJa

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 20, 2025

Having also won back-to-back titles in Munich in 2017-18, Zverev equalled countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber’s tournament-record tally of three titles. The 28-year-old also ensured that the tournament’s first edition as an ATP 500 event concluded with a German champion, marking Zverev’s sixth crown on home soil.

Since reaching his third major final at the Australian Open in January, Zverev went 6-6 on the ATP Tour entering Munich, including opening-round defeats in Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo, where he was the top seed. Yet the German has turned his form around with a confident week in Munich.

Shelton appeared nervy on serve in the opening set, highlighted by two untimely double faults, which came facing break point in the first and seventh games. In contrast, Zverev exuded confidence behind his first delivery, from which he dropped just three of 19 points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Supported by a boisterous capacity crowd in Munich, which included Bayern Munich football star Thomas Muller, Zverev continued to command the baseline with ease in the second set. He opened with another break and did not look back en route to winning his ninth ATP Tour title on clay.

“I definitely knew I had to play my best tennis today, Ben has been playing extremely well this week,” added Zverev. “The conditions suit him extremely well, it’s very hot and very fast. They suit me as well, to be fair. I enjoyed my birthday so far.”

By improving to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Shelton, Zverev secured his sixth ATP 500 title. He will also reclaim the No. 2 spot in the PIF ATP Rankings after Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by Holger Rune in the Barcelona final on Sunday afternoon.

Zverev's ATP 500 Titles

With his run to a fourth ATP Tour final, Shelton is up to No. 13 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, just one shy of his career high. The 22-year-old became the first American to reach a clay final above ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi won the 2002 Masters 1000 in Rome, but was unable to contain Zverev, who was relentless throughout Sunday's 71-minute clash.

“I feel really blessed to play in front of you all on Easter Sunday, it’s really special for me,” said Shelton during the trophy presentation. “Happy Birthday Sascha, I didn’t know that [it was your birthday]. If I did, I would have said it was a birthday gift… I was trying as hard as I could to return your serves today, but I couldn’t make it work.”