German tennis star Alexander Zverev celebrated his 28th birthday with victory on home soil at the Munich Open on Sunday to finally end a disappointing run of form.

After a run of six straight ATP tournaments in which he had failed to progress beyond the quarterfinals, Zverev beat Ben Shelton of the United States 6-2, 6-4 in the final in Munich, winning €467,485 ($531,644) in prize money plus an electric car from tournament sponsor BMW.

He also moved up to second in the ATP tour world rankings after Spain's Carlos Alcaraz lost in the final of the Barcelona Open a couple of hours later.

"This was one of the best weeks you can have as a tennis player," said the Hamburg-born athlete after being handed the trophy by Bavarian premier Markus Söder (CSU).

"I don't think we need to talk about the last few weeks anymore," he added. "I'm just so happy with the title and the level I managed to play at. Now I'm just going to enjoy my birthday and the fact I've won a tournament."

Zverev's timely return to form

Zverev's recent troubles began with a defeat to Jannik Sinner in the final of the Australian Open in January – after which the Italian accepted a three-month ban as part of a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over two positive doping tests in 2024.

But Zverev's apparent return to form comes at an ideal time, with the second grand slam of the year, the French Open in Paris, just one month away.

After putting on a pair of traditional Bavarian lederhosen and driving a quick lap in the electric car, Zverev was serenaded with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" by the 6,000-strong crowd, which also included Bayern Munich legend Thomas Müller.

"You can all be happy that I didn't have to sing," Zverev joked.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic