Alexander Zverev lost second consecutive match as he lost to Christopher O'Connell in the second round of the 2023 Munich Open.
The ATP 250 event in Munich, also referred to as the BMW Open, is one of the home events for Zverev. However, despite the support from the home crowd, the German wasn't able to follow up on a victory of fellow top-seed Holger Rune who advanced earlier on the day.
After losing to Daniil Medvedev in Monte Carlo in a heated clash, Zverev wanted to get back to winning ways and there was no better place for it than the 2023 Munich Open. After a bye in the first round, the third seed took on Christopher O'Connell from Australia in the second round.
It was the second meeting on the ATP Tour for the two, as Zverev managed to beat O'Connell earlier this year. But the German couldn't follow up on that win on his home soil.
The first set saw both players having multiple chances to break and both used one of those chances to set up a tie-break in the opening set. The former world no. 2 didn't start well in the tie-break, building a 0-4 deficit early that he wasn't able to recover from. O'Connell won the first-set tie-break 7-2 and got off to a good start-
In the second set, Zverev struggled again. He had chances to go ahead by a break, but he couldn't use them. On the other hand, O'Connell used his chances and after a break of serve in the ninth game, he confirmed it with a hold to love to win the match 7-6(2), 6-4 and advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Munich Open.
In the last-eight match, the Australian will have a great chance to reach the semifinals as he will play against Flavio Cobolli, who is ranked 208th on the ATP Tour.