Alexander Zverev will face Ben Shelton in the Munich ATP final on his 28th birthday, after a straight-sets win over Hungarian Fabian Marozsan on Saturday.
Zverev, the top seed on home soil in Munich, won 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, as he targets a third title at a tournament he won in 2017 and 2018.
“It was a pretty good match. I felt calmer on the court, only had a weak game in the first set,” said the third-ranked Zverev. “The entire week has been amazing… and hopefully I can have another great day tomorrow.”
The final is the 38th of Zverev’s career and first since he lost to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open in January.
Zverev broke early in the opening set to run out to a 2-0 lead, but was broken back on the way to a tie-break, which the German dominated.
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Marozsan fought hard but was pushed into repeated errors by Zverev, who increasingly had the home fans on his side.
The 77th-ranked Marozsan fought off two match points but could not do so a third time, allowing Zverev to reach Sunday’s final.
Earlier on Saturday, American world number 15 Shelton came from a set down to beat Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.
Outclassed in the opening set, the 22-year-old American’s fightback began in the second with an early break.
Cerundolo, ranked 22nd in the world, hit back to force a tie-break, but Shelton won it to level the match.
The players exchanged breaks to open the third set before Shelton broke again in the last game to pinch victory and reach the fourth ATP final of his career.
Shelton said after the match he was still working to improve on clay.
“Not everything is straightforward and perfect on the clay. You’re gonna get broken more… but you can also break more,” said Shelton. “I think dealing with adversity and adapting makes a great clay-court player. I’m trying to learn day by day.”
