Alexander Zverev equals Rafael Nadal's record at Halle

Alexander Zverev passes the first round of the 2026 ATP 500 Terra Wortmann Open (Instagram/@alexzverev123).

JAKARTA - Alexander Zverev managed to equal Rafael Nadal's record when he passed the first round of the 2026 ATP 500 Terra Wortmann Open grass court tournament which took place in Halle, Germany.

The tennis player who won the 2026 Roland Garros has not fully adapted to the grass court, but was able to secure his first victory after defeating Vit Kopriva in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, and 6-2 on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, Indonesian time.

"Obviously I'm very happy to play my first match as a Grand Slam champion in Germany. However, I think it doesn't really affect me. It's more because of the change in the surface," said Zverev, quoted from the ATP official website.

Zverev, the top seed in Halle, was forced to spend two hours and 10 minutes to secure victory at his own home.

The result makes the German tennis player equal Rafael Nadal's record as the player with the most wins at the ATP 500 event since the format was introduced in 2009. Both names have collected 121 wins.

"My opponent played very well today. He hit the ball very well, his serve was also amazing. I'm happy with this victory because the match was difficult, the opponent was difficult. For the first match on the grass court, this result is not too bad," said Zverev.

This match was Zverev's first on the grass in 2026 or just nine days after he beat Flavio Cobolli in the five-set Roland Garros final to claim his first Grand Slam title in his career.

The world number three performed solidly by relying on a strong serve to win 81 percent of the first serve points (44/54). The only serve that Kopriva managed to break occurred at an important moment in the 10th game of the second set which made the match continue to the deciding set.

In the third set, Zverev began to increase the pressure. After a 2-2 tie, he won four consecutive games to secure a place in the second round. Furthermore, he will face his compatriot Yannick Hanfmann to compete for a quarterfinal ticket.

Hanfmann previously made a surprise by defeating Joao Fonseca 6-2 and 6-2 and recording his 100th victory at the tour level. He became the 25th German tennis player in the Open era to achieve this feat.

Meanwhile, defending champion Halle Alexander Bublik had to be eliminated early. Italian tennis player, Mattia Bellucci, surprised the third seed from Kazakhstan with a victory 7-6(6) and 6-1. Bellucci became the second player in the history of the tournament to be able to beat the defending champion in the first round.

In another match, Hubert Hurkacz started the tournament convincingly. The 2022 Halle champion eliminated eighth seed Andrey Rublev with a score of 6-3 and 6-2. Daniil Medvedev also advanced after defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry with a score of 6-3 and 6-4.

Other tennis players who qualified for the second round were Ethan Quinn, Sho Shimabukuro, and Fabian Marozsan. Quinn defeated Karen Khachanov with a score of 1-6, 6-4, and 6-4.

Then, Shimabukuro defeated Tallon Griekspoor with a score of 6-4, 3-6, and 6-4. Finally, Marozsan won over Miomir Kecmanovic with a score of 6-3, 3-6, and 6-4.