The Dallas Open takes place at The Star In Frisco on Wednesday February 5, 2025 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Dallas Open)
A jam-packed day of first-round action is set for Tuesday in Munich, where Alexander Zverev begins his title defense against Miomir Kecmanovic. Joao Fonseca kicks off his campaign against Alejandro Tabilo.
(1) Alexander Zverev vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
Zverev and Kecmanovic will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they collide in round one of the BMW Open on Tuesday afternoon. The head-to-head series is all tied up 2-2 after Kecmanovic won a 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) thriller just a couple of months ago in Acapulco.
This marks their first-ever meeting on clay, which should favor Zverev — who owns a far better lifetime record on the red stuff and is a former French Open finalist (2024). The third-ranked German is also coming off a semifinal showing at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he once again lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. Kecmanovic exited right away from Monte-Carlo; the 58th-ranked Serb played well most of the way against Cameron Norrie only to lose their third-set tiebreaker 7-0. He is 2-5 in his last seven matches dating back to Acapulco. All signs point to Zverev winning convincingly in front of the home crowd.
Pick: Zverev in 2
Alejandro Tabilo vs. Joao Fonseca
Fonseca has shown encouraging signs at the Masters 1000 level over the past month or so. The 19-year-old’s losses have come to Sinner (Indian Wells fourth round), Carlos Alcaraz (Miami second round), and Zverev (Monte-Carlo quarterfinals). All three matches were competitive — especially against Sinner and Zverev. Fonseca is up to No. 35 in the world and will be particularly motivated to secure a top-32 spot for seeding at Roland Garros.
Up first for the Brazilian on Tuesday is a third encounter with Tabilo, who leads the head-to-head series 2-0. The Chilean lefty prevailed 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 last spring in Bucharest and 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 earlier this season in Buenos Aires. However, Fonseca is much improved since 12 months ago and at the beginning of this year he was dealing with a back injury. Tabilo will be facing a much different opponent in Munich. Although the world No. 45 is playing well, he has cooled off a bit since finishing runner-up at the Rio de Janeiro ATP 500. Look for Fonseca to maintain his momentum and avenge his two previous losses in this matchup.
Pick: Fonseca in 2
