Alexander Zverev maintained his smooth transition to grass at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany, on Thursday, while Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz met again after their final match in Stuttgart last weekend.
World No. 3 Zverev, who won his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros earlier this month, produced a steady display to beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 7-6(4) at the ATP 500 tournament.
"I think it was a very good level of grass court play," Zverev said after the match, as quoted by ATP.
"We both played very well. I took advantage of the opportunities I had."
According to ATP statistics, Zverev lost only three of 44 points behind his first serve and did not face a break point during his 81-minute victory.
"I didn't have many chances, but the ones I had, I made the most of," Zverev said.
"I had two break points. I used one of them and then the other tie-break . Sometimes matches are like that on grass."
Zverev is looking to win his first title in Halle this week, having reached back-to-back finals in 2016-17.
The German top seed is looking forward to a quarter-final clash against either Raphael Collignon or Mattia Bellucci, who both qualified through the qualifying rounds.
