ACAPULCO: German colleague Daniel Altmaier defeated top-seeded Alexander Zverev in three sets, sending him reeling from the Mexico Open at the first hurdle on Tuesday. World No. 57 Altmaier defeated Zverev, the 2021 Acapulco tournament winner, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Altmaier grabbed command of the third set with an early break to take a 2-0 lead and held for a 3-0 victory after the first two games were shared. In the fifth and seventh games, Zverev had three break point opportunities that he failed to take advantage of, and Altmaier served to seal the win and set up a rematch with Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round.

Tuesday’s other matches saw Australia’s Jordan Thompson return to the real world after he lost his opening round match, two days after taking home his first career ATP title. After going on an enormous killing streak and beating Casper Ruud in the Los Cabos Open final on Sunday, American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic defeated Thompson in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, and 6-4 in 2 hours and 42 minutes.

After Holger Rune, the second seed from Denmark, easily defeated Michael Mmoh 6-2, 6-3 earlier on Tuesday, Kovacevic will face him in the second round. Fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece defeated Roman Safiullin of Russia with ease, 6-3, 6-4.

In the second round, Tsitsipas will take on Flavio Cobolli, an Italian qualifier. Following his victory, Tsitsipas remarked in an on-court interview, “It’s one of those first rounds where you get good opponents and a very good, strong start from the beginning of the tournament.” “I was aware that Roman could play well on these kinds of surfaces when working with him. He pushes you back and snatches the ball early.

“I did pretty well with that, which was the main thing I had to deal with today.” Ruud, the sixth seed in Acapulco and Sunday’s beaten Los Cabos finalist, took three sets to defeat Christopher Eubanks before prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.

The eighth seed from America After defeating Max Purcell of Australia 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, Frances Tiafoe will now take against Dominik Koepfer of Germany, who upset Terence Atmane of France 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

Daniil Medvedev defeated Alexander Shevchenko in straight sets in Dubai on Tuesday, marking his first match since losing in the Australian final. In Doha, 48 hours after being the youngest finalist at a tour tournament since 2021, 18-year-old Jakub Mensik defeated Borna Coric. Karen Khachanov, the man who put an end to the Czech teenager’s incredible journey in Qatar on Sunday, was also one of the round of 32 winners.

Defeating Shevchenko 6-3, 7-5, world no. 4 Medvedev began his title defense at the hardcourt ATP 500 event. After a month-long absence due to a combination of holiday and injury, the top-seeded Russian player defeated his Kazakh opponent in three straight return games in the opening set. In the second set, he won four games in a row from 3-5 to cap an 88-minute victory.

Medvedev made it to his second Australian Open final in January. Two years prior, he was defeated by Rafael Nadal in the Melbourne final, and this time around, he had to settle for second place in the season’s first Grand Slam match against Jannik Sinner.

He had to postpone his championship defense in Doha last week due to a variety of physical problems, including problems with his adductor, shoulder, and foot. To be honest, I am content with my level overall because it is difficult to recover from an injury.

At the court, Medvedev remarked, “You always try to straight away put your game back, but its not easy. I’m happy to beat such a good opponent and am looking forward to the next round.” It’s quite easy to make up ground in tennis when you take a week or two off and it was something you had planned, he continued. You simply need to win a few games or points.

“I did take a week and a half off by myself, and when I returned, I wasn’t practicing at 100% and I started to feel pain occasionally.”It’s quite difficult since you have to focus solely on the tennis match at hand; if you are thinking about anything else, you will lose.

Following the Italian’s 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 demolition of Indian wild card Sumit Nagal, Medvedev will next face Lorenzo Sonego. After saving one match point in his 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) triumph against Coric, Mensik booked a date with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the world number 24 from Spain.- AFP