Title holder Alexander Zverev has breezed past qualifier Jesper de Jong 6-2 6-2 in the first round of the Hamburg Open, showing no signs of a recent knee injury.
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Zverev took just 77 minute to oust his 114th-ranked Dutch opponent as he moved into a second-round date on Thursday with Frenchman Hugo Gaston in his home town.
World No.4 Zverev damaged his knee 11 days ago at Wimbledon and it was not clear for a while whether he would play in Hamburg.
The tournament is, however, dear to him, and it also serves as a tune-up for the Olympic tournament in Paris which starts on July 27. Zverev will be aiming for back-to-back gold medals.
The Olympic tennis tournament takes place at Roland Garros where Zverev was a French Open finalist last month.
Casper Ruud has suffered a shock early exit at the Nordea Open in Bastad, Sweden. Norway's world No. 9 was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Brazil's Thiago Monteiro in the second round.
Ruud later returned to the clay to partner Rafael Nadal in the doubles event, with the pair saving a match point as they won 6-4 3-6, 12-10 against Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin to reach the semi-finals.
American Reilly Opelka pulled off the shock result of the day at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island, beating top seed Adrian Mannarino 6-4 3-6 6-4 to continue his comeback after almost two years off the main tour following hip and wrist surgery.
Australian Associated Press
