2024 Hamburg European Open Preview: Zverev eyes title defense as Rune seeks redemption

The ATP 500 Hamburg European Open is set to take place between 13-21 July on the clay courts at the tennis center Am Rothenbaum in Harvestehude, Hamburg. The tournament will feature star players, including the defending champion Alexander Zverev, who defeated Laslo Djere in last year's final.

Other notable players include Holger Rune, Sebastian Baez, and Francisco Cerundolo among the top seeds. Most players in the draw will use Hamburg as a preparatory stop before the Olympic Games, considering the surface change after the grass swing.

World No. 4 and top seed Alexander Zverev is the defending champion and the main star of the draw. In 2023, Zverev began finding his best form in Hamburg, and the title there provided extra motivation for his successful subsequent months. The German will debut against a qualifier.

This appearance will mark Zverev's return to clay courts, following his victory at the Rome Masters 1000 against Nicolas Jarry and reaching the French Open final, where he ended up as the runner-up after losing in five sets to Carlos Alcaraz.

Zverev aims to regain his clay-swing form after a disappointing exit in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon. In the first week, he had easy wins over Roberto Carballes Baena, Marcos Giron, and Cameron Norrie without dropping a set, positioning himself as one of the top title contenders.

The German was two sets up in the fourth round against Taylor Fritz, but the American staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Zverev 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3. Zverev was also the only top-4 player not to reach the semifinals (unlike Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Medvedev).

Holger Rune (No. 15) will be the second seed in the tournament, looking to move past his Round of 16 exit at Wimbledon against Novak Djokovic. The Danish player had a lackluster performance against the Serbian, struggling to compete and losing 3-6, 4-6, 2-6.

Rune failed to defend his points from last year's Wimbledon quarterfinals and continues to drop in the rankings. Starting Monday, he will be ranked World No. 17, his lowest ranking since winning the Stockholm Open in October 2022. Rune will debut against Fabian Marozsan (No. 43) on Monday.

Argentinians Sebastian Baez (No. 18) and Francisco Cerundolo (No. 30) round out the top four seeds. Both were seeded at Wimbledon but were surprisingly ousted in the first round. However, as clay-court specialists, they have a good chance to make up for the points lost at the All England Club.

Italians Matteo Arnaldi (No. 35) and Luciano Darderi (No. 37), like the Argentinians, will be competing in the upcoming Olympic Games and are looking to gain match practice in Hamburg as they transition from grass to clay courts, considering Paris 2024 will be played at Roland Garros. Arnaldi lost in the first round at Wimbledon to Tiafoe, while Darderi exited in the second round against Lorenzo Musetti (No. 25).

Frenchman Arthur Fils (No. 34), who had a strong showing at Wimbledon by reaching the Round of 16, will be the sixth seed in the tournament. He will debut against Spain’s Jaume Munar. Finally, the eighth seed will be China’s Zhizhen Zhang (No. 38). Two months ago, he reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal at the Rome Open but only made it to the third round at Roland Garros.

Several players who were confirmed for the draw decided to withdraw from the tournament. First, Frenchman Gael Monfils announced his withdrawal. The 37-year-old veteran had a good run at Wimbledon, with wins over 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino and 3-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, but he was eliminated in the third round by 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Shortly after, former British No. 1 Dan Evans announced that he would not be participating in the Hamburg Open. Evans has not had an easy few months due to injuries, and although he did not cite any current injury, it is likely he decided to rest his body and be cautious with the surface change.

Finally, Frenchman Corentin Moutet suffered an injury at Wimbledon and had to withdraw before his first-round match against Alex De Minaur. Moutet had a great performance at the French Open and is signed up for the Olympics, so it remains to be seen if he will compete in any other tournament the following week or go directly to Paris 2024.