A red-clay reunion awaits Alexander Zverev in his Hamburg return.
The 18-year-old German advanced to his second career ATP semifinal in Bastad last weekend, falling to 33-year-old Spaniard Tommy Robredo.
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The luck of the draw reunites the pair for a rematch in the Hamburg opener.
The Hamburg native hopes his hometown fans will help gain a measure of revenge against Robredo in what Zverev calls his "most important tournament of the year."
"For me, Hamburg [is] the most important tournament of the year," Zverev said in his pre-tournament press conference today. "[In] 2007 and 2008, I sat in the finals of Federer and Nadal at the top in the stadium. These are special memories. That is why the match against Robredo [will] hopefully [be] different than last week in Bastad. I play at home and the audience is always a huge help for me."
The crowd inspired Zverev in his Hamburg breakthrough last year.
The then 17-year-old German wild card dismissed Dutchman Robin Haase, 6-0, 6-2, in just 58 minutes to earn his first career ATP victory in his hometown tournament. Zverev became the youngest man to win an ATP 500-level match since a 17-year-old Grigor Dimitrov upset Tomas Berdych at the 2009 Rotterdam tournament.
The 2013 junior world No. 1 went on to reach his first career ATP semifinal before falling to David Ferrer.
The winner of the Zverev-Robredo match will face either Bastad champion Benoit Paire, who beat Robredo in yesterday's final, or German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
In case you missed it, Zverev discussed his game, his habit of bouncing the ball repeatedly, like the young Novak Djokovic, before serving and goals for the future after his Bastad quarterfinal win last week.
Photo credit: SkiStar Swedish Open/Fredric Berggren