One day before his birthday

Top favorite Zverev surprisingly out in Munich!

Alexander Zverev was eliminated in Munich.(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Top favorite Alexander Zverev has been knocked out of the ATP tennis tournament in Munich in the quarter-finals. The world number 5 lost 4:6, 4:6 to Chile's Cristian Garin on Friday and, as in previous years, experienced a disappointment at the BMW Open.

In cold, wet conditions and drizzling rain, the Olympic champion was unable to find a solution against the South American, who played a varied game and fought with courage, on the day before his 27th birthday.

Deja-vu
Zverev had already lost to Garin in the quarter-finals of Munich in 2019, who went on to win the tournament. In the past two years, the best German tennis pro had even failed in the round of 16 in his opening matches. This time, he wanted to return the favor and celebrate his third success in the Bavarian capital after 2017 and 2018 - but failed.

Zverev had eliminated Austrian Jurij Rodionov 7:6(3), 6:2 in the round of 16, but one round later it was over. The adverse weather conditions, as they had been all week, and a cleverly playing Garin, number 106 in the ATP rankings, put Zverev on edge.

The German kept ranting. In the second round, Zverev got into heated discussions with the umpire and the ATP supervisor because they did not interrupt the match despite the rain, much to the Hamburg player's chagrin. "It's been raining non-stop for three and a half hours. I'm sliding back and forth here. When are you going to do something?" he said to the referee during a break. After exactly 2:00 hours, his defeat was certain.

Garin will meet Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals. The US number three seed had won his quarter-final 4:6, 6:3, 7:6(1) against Jack Draper from Great Britain.