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Alexander Zverev suffered an opening-round defeat at the hands of compatriot Daniel Altmaier at the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
The World No. 6 returned to the ATP 500 event two years after being defaulted due to misconduct after he hit the umpire's chair with his racquet in frustration during a doubles match.
Zverev was the top seed in Acapulco and was up against Daniel Altmaier in the opening round. Altmaier started the match strongly and took the first set 6-3. However, Zverev bounced back in the second set and won it by the same scoreline to force the match into a decider.
Here, Altmaier made an early break and this was decisive as he went on to register a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory and reach the second round of the Mexican Open.
It was the first-ever top-10 win of the 25-year-old's career. He also defeated Alexander Zverev for the first time after losing twice to him at the 2023 US Open and the 2022 Australian Open.
After the match, Zverev and Altmaier did not have the warmest of exchanges at the net as the former gave his compatriot a cold handshake before going to the chair umpire to shake hands.
Zverev now has a 11-4 win-loss record in the 2024 season so far. The 26-year-old helped Germany win the United Cup before reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open where he was beaten by Daniil Medvedev despite winning the first two sets.
Just before entering Acapulco, Zverev reached the semifinals of the Los Cabos Open before losing to eventual champion Jordan Thompson.
Alexander Zverev will next compete at the Indian Wells Masters
Following his disappointing exit at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, Zverev will next be in action at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The German reached the fourth round of the Masters 1000 event in 2023 following wins over Pedro Cachin and Emil Ruusuvuori. Here, he put up a tough fight against eventual runner-up Daniil Medvedev before losing 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Zverev does not have the most impressive record at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with ten wins out of 17 matches. His best performance was reaching the semifinals in 2021 when he was the third seed. He defeated Jenson Brooksby. Andy Murray and Gael Monfils before losing to Taylor Fritz.
