Alexander Zverev Prevails at the BMW Open for a Third Time
The 2017 and 2018 champion claimed the Munich title on his 29th birthday.
On his 29th birthday, Alexander Zverev of Germany defeated Ben Shelton of the United States, 22, to win the Men’s Singles title at the 2025 Bavarian International Tennis Championships in Munich, Germany (an ATP 500 event). The score in the final was 6-2 and 6-4 in favor of Zverev.
This was the second match Shelton and Zverev have played against each other on the ATP Tour - with Zverev winning their prior meeting. Today’s victory was the first title Zverev has won on the 2025 ATP Tour and the 24th title of his career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the ninth title he has claimed from a clay court event and his sixth from a 500-level tournament. Moreover, this was the third time he has won the title in Munch. He previously prevailed in 2017 and 2018.
Heading into this tournament, Zverev was ranked as the Number 3 tennis player on the 2025 ATP Tour, while Shelton carried the Number 15 designation. By winning in Munich, Zverev has received 500 points in the overall rankings. As a result, he will move up to Number 2. Meanwhile, Shelton has picked up 330 points.
Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany (No. 51) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year though, he lost in the first round against fifth seed Francisco Cerúndolo of Argentina (No. 22). Furthermore, Zverev and Shelton were event’s first and second seeds, respectively.
Zverev arrived in the final after winning against Alexandre Müller of France (No. 40), wildcard Daniel Altmaier of Germany (No. 68), Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands (No. 37), and Fábián Marozsán of Hungary (No. 77). This was the 38th ATP final he has contested and his tenth at a 500-level event.
In the other half of the main draw, Shelton defeated qualifier Borna Gojo of Croatia (No. 410), lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands (No. 89), Luciano Darderi of Italy (No. 47), and Cerúndolo. This was the fourth ATP final he has competed in and his third at a 500-level event. Notably, he became the first American man to reach a clay court final at an ATP 500 level or higher since Andre Agassi at the 2002 Italian Open.
The revised rankings for the 2025 ATP Tour will be officially released on Monday, April 21. The tour will then play one tournament from April 22-May 4: the Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain (an ATP Masters 1000 event). The competition will be played on clay courts.
Andrey Rublev of Russia (No. 8) is the reigning champion at the Madrid Open. He will be attempting a title defense as the event’s seventh seed this year. Meanwhile, Zverev and Shelton will also be playing as the event’s first and 12th seeds, respectively. All 32 seeds will advance directly to the second round of competition.