Zverev cruises into Munich quarters and now faces Cerundolo

German tenni splayer Alexander Zverev in action against Canada's Gabriel Diallo during their men's singles round of 16 tennis match of the ATP Tour BMW Open by Bitpanda tennis tournament in Munich. Sven Hoppe/dpa

Title holder Alexander Zverev breezed into the Munich Open quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Gabriel Diallo on Thursday under the eyes of Bayern Munich football stars.

Top seed Zverev broke Diallo in the opening game and won the last four games en route to victory over Canadian Diallo, who appeared troubled by a back injury.

"I think he had some issues with the back and was not serving fully in the second set. But I am happy with the win and happy to get an easier match today," Zverev said on court.

Warmer conditions suited Zverev and his game much better than in his opening match against Miomir Kecmanović, which he won in a third-set tie-break.

Zverev's next opponent is Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who also dropped just three games when he beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-0.

Zverev leads the series 4-3 but Cerundolo has won all their three matches on clay.

The score was also 4-3 when Bayern beat Real Madrid in a Champions League thriller on Wednesday night. Zverev watched the match in the stadium and Bayern players Serge Gnabry and Joshua Kimmich returned the favour on Thursday by coming to see him play.

"It is great for the stars to come out. Amazing for them to get the win at home and I was there watching. It was very, very special," Zverev said.

Zverev is bidding for a record fourth title in Munich. He is yet to reach a final this year but was in the semi-finals in four of his five 2026 tournaments, which he lost against the top ranked pair of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who are not in Munich.