Alexander Zverev is no longer the best player never to win a Grand Slam. He took the title at the 2026 French Open, so he is simply great now. He hoped to continue that at the Halle Open against Vit Kopriva.
The tournament is played on grass and is a tune-up for Wimbledon, which begins on June 29. Zverev is capable of being elite on any surface, but his worst surface is on grass courts. He's never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon, for instance.
In other words, his match against Kopriva wasn't simply getting back to playing tennis after his layoff from winning in Paris. He also needed to build up some confidence to believe that he can turn one major title into potentially another soon.
Alexander Zverev struggles with Vit Kopriva in the first round of the 2026 Halle Open
He won't be the favorite in London, but he was certainly the favorite in Halle against Kopriva. He showed why at the beginning of the match. After a hold to begin the first set, Zverev got a break in the next game, and already the outcome of the match seemed certain.
Kopriva is a decent player, but far from a great one and not of Zverev's ilk. Assuming he would mount much of a comeback appeared to be foolish. However, Kopriva didn't go away meekly. He was able to hold serve the rest of the set, and kept trying to battle, but Zverev simply was precision-like in his serve, as per usual, and took the set 6-3.
Kopriva stuck with Alexander Zverev in the second set, too. Each kept holding serve, while the German had a far easier time in most of his service holds. He didn't mind the long rallies, but Kopriva's serve was somehow keeping him in the match.
Stunningly, with Zverev serving at 4-5, Kopriva got the break and took the second set 6-4. What was once looking like an easy match for the ATP No. 3 was suddenly a much tougher one against the ATP No. 65.
The Czech was also outhitting the German. Kopriva finished with 14 winners in set two, while Zverev finished with 11. The German crowd was as shocked as those watching at home by what the match was becoming.
The third set followed the trend of the second set. Zverev kept holding fairly easily, while Kopriva held but was far more challenged. At 2-all, though, Zverev got a break after a long game, and the outcome was certain. The German then got another break with Kopriva serving at 2-4. An easy hold was all Zverev needed to take the third set 6-2, in a match more difficult than initially anticipated.
Zverev will next face fellow German Yannick Hanfmann in the second round (the round of 16) of the Halle Open. Hanfmann stunned rising star Joao Fonseca 6-2, 6-2 in the first round.
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