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Zverev overcomes Moutet to reach Stuttgart quarters

football12 June 2025 16:00| © Reuters
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Alexander Zverev © Getty Images

German top seed Alexander Zverev beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-2 7-6(7) on Thursday to reach the Stuttgart Open quarterfinals, staying on course in his Wimbledon tune-up after a quarterfinal run at Roland Garros.

Zverev has long struggled on grass. The 28-year-old has won 24 tour-level titles but none on grass and has never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Zverev, a three-times Grand Slam finalist, raced through the first set, but Moutet responded well in the second, taking an early 2-1 lead.

The set tightened as both players traded breaks to reach 4-4, before Zverev held his nerve in the tiebreak to close out the match.

"I prefer to win 6-2 6-2, but you can never choose these kind of things but in the end I won and that's the most important thing," said Zverev, who last played at Stuttgart in 2019.

"I think the first match on grass was never easy. I honestly think it was a very average match. I made it complicated, but a win is a win and I'm happy to play tomorrow again."

Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime earned his first win on grass since Halle in 2022, defeating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals in Stuttgart.

The 24-year-old Canadian will next face German teenager Justin Engel.

Wildcard Engel, who won his first tour-level grasscourt match in the previous round, stunned American seventh seed Alex Michelsen 6-4 6-4, breaking for 2-1 in both sets and holding serve throughout without facing a single break point.

The 17-year-old Engel becomes the youngest Stuttgart quarterfinalist and also the youngest player to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP grasscourt event since 1985, when Boris Becker made it to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

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