May 31, 2022; Paris, France; Alexander Zverev (GER) celebrates winning his match against Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) on day 10 of the French Open at Stade Roland-Garros.

tennis

Alexander Zverev Makes Light Work of Ben Shelton to Capture 2025 ATP BMW Open Munich Crown

Top seed wins third title in Bavaria.

May 31, 2022; Paris, France; Alexander Zverev (GER) celebrates winning his match against Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) on day 10 of the French Open at Stade Roland-Garros.

World No. 3 Alexander Zverev won his first title of the season on Sunday, overcoming Ben Shelton 6-2 6-4 in the final of the BMW Open 2025 in Munich. The German equalled Philipp Kohlschreiber as the most titled player at the Bavarian Championships in the process. Battling for the No. 2 ATP ranking ahead of Roland Garros, Zverev applied pressure on Carlos Alcaraz with this win.

Alexander Zverev started the season in fine fashion, reaching the final of the Australian Open. However, the pressure of potentially acquiring the World No. 1 tag got to the three-time Grand Slam finalist – he had a poor outing in South America and the USA. Meanwhile, Shelton is relatively inexperienced in deeper stages of clay court tournaments. The American failed to unsettle Sascha on Sunday.

Alexander Zverev Proves That Home is Where the Heart Lies

Birthday boy Zverev gave himself and his team the best possible occasion to celebrate on Sunday. He did not face a single break point en route to the championship. Breaking Shelton in the very first game, the now 28-year-old never looked back. The pressure of facing the wrath of Zverev’s groundstrokes, paired with the vivacious crowd cheering for his opponent, rattled the 22-year-old American.

Courtesy of two uncanny double faults, Zverev earned two breaks and the opening set. The second set began in similar fashion, with Shelton having no answers to Zverev’s accurate return game. A solitary break of serve was enough for the defending runner-up at the Roland Garros Championships to claim his sixth crown in his home country, and ninth title on clay.

Zverev ultimately won 6-2 6-4 in just 71 minutes.

Zverev Lauds Shelton After Munich Thrashing

The newly crowned champion had some kind words for Ben Shelton during the post-match trophy presentation. “I remember two years ago was the first time you came to Europe,” he recalled. “You were struggling to win matches here. Now you already have a clay court title and you just made the final of a 500 event. First American in a lot of years to do so. You’re playing unbelievable tennis.”

Zverev improved his head to head record against Shelton to 2-0 after Sunday’s final. As the two competitors embraced at the net, it was a pleasing sight on a packed Centre Court. “Also to the people in Ben’s box – incredible support. Pops, you obviously come everywhere as well. You’ve been a player yourself. You have one of the best tennis minds I’ve been around – congrats to you!”

@domithiem with a surprise entrance and gift for @AlexZverev 🚗#BMWOpen pic.twitter.com/Srcmv8CpYa
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 20, 2025

With Alexander Zverev’s victory, Carlos Alcaraz now has to win the Barcelona Open title in order to retain his World No. 2 ranking.

Alexander Zverev

ATP

ATP 500

Ben Shelton

BMW Open

Carlos Alcaraz

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.