Zverev moves top clay form onto Halle grass

French Open winner Alexander Zverev on Thursday continued his smooth transition onto the grass with Wimbledon only days away, booking the ATP Halle quarter-finals with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) defeat of fellow German Yannik Hanfmann  

Zverev never faced a break point in victory, taking 81 minutes to reach the last eight 

“It was a very good-level grass-court match. Both of us were serving extremely well. I used the chances that I had. I didn’t have many, but the ones I did have, I used them well.”

Zverev reached Halle finals in 2016 and 2017 but has never lifted the home trophy in the north of the country.

US seeds Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz will face off again on German grass just four days after Shelton beat his compatriot on German grass to lift the Stuttgart title, his third of 2026/

Fritz earned a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Fabian Marozsan, while Shelton put out Ethan Quinn 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.“It’s a different court, but similar tactic,” Shelton said of the upcoming Fritz rematch. “He’s going to be coming after me hard, as he always does. Same with me coming after him.

“I’m excited to match up with him again. We have a nice rivalry going: a lot of really tight matches.”