This is likely to throw Alexander Zverev’s preparation for the 2024 US Open into disarray: The German tennis star, who was actually supposed to play one of the opening matches in Flushing Meadows against the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori on Monday, suddenly has a new opponent in front of his racket, whom he also knows well from the DTB.
When Alexander Zverev picks up his racket on Monday at around 5 p.m. as one of the first favorites to win the 2024 US Open, the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (number 83 in the world rankings) will not be on the opposing side. The 25-year-old canceled his start on Saturday evening due to illness. The organizer announced this.
With Maximilian Marterer, a lucky loser from the German camp moves into the main field for Ruusuvuori.
Marterer, who is ranked 101st in the world rankings, lost his qualifying final against American Mitchell Krueger on Thursday, but luck has now washed the 29-year-old into the main draw, where 2020 finalist Zverev is waiting.
The fourth-placed player in the ATP rankings is of course still faced with a feasible tournament path. The winner of the duel between Alexandre Müller (France/number 76 in the world rankings) and Adam Walton (Australia/number 96 in the world rankings) awaits in the second round.
Statistics speak strongly against torturers
In the third round, he could face Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina/number 29 in the world rankings) for the first time with a seeded player. Zverev is making his next attempt at the first Grand Slam victory of his career in New York.
Zverev has only met Marterer once so far: in Hamburg, the 2023 favorite won in two sets with 6:3 and 7:5. Marterer has also never made it past the first round of the US Open in four attempts. His greatest success is reaching the round of 16 at the 2018 French Open.
Source: www.sport.de
