Alexander Zverev has been struggling for weeks, but he still delivered good results in the dress rehearsal for the US Open. Has Germany’s best tennis pro found his form again just in time?
It wasn’t long ago that Germany’s biggest tabloid newspaper raised the alarm. Bild was “very worried” about Alexander Zverev and asked the question: “How sick is he really?” The Hamburg native had just failed early in the Olympic tennis tournament, complaining of a mysterious ailment. It was the next chapter of a season with ups and downs – and just two weeks later, the German number one is already giving hope again.
Zverev has reached the semifinals of the highly competitive Masters in Cincinnati for the third time in the past four years. The dress rehearsal for the US Open can therefore be described as a success, even before the duel with world number one Jannik Sinner on Sunday evening.
Even in the 3:6, 7:6 (7:3), 7:5 quarter-final against fan favorite Ben Shelton, Zverev ultimately had to overcome a number of obstacles, such as the American’s strong serve or the rain interruptions in critical phases of his own serve.
“In the end,” Zverev said later, “he still found a way,” and the experience he has had after ten years on the tour also helps: “You know a little bit what you have to do.” In what form Zverev will go into the last major of the year, however, it is still difficult to predict. It starts on August 26 in New York – is Zverev ready for his first Grand Slam title?
It has undoubtedly been a complicated tennis year for the German, but it is worth taking a closer look. At the truth and at the perceived truth. It feels like a tough season with some disappointments and, most recently, unresolved problems. After his Olympic exit, Zverev complained of dizziness and announced blood tests to get to the bottom of the matter. At the Masters in Montreal, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals; Zverev was coughing and had breathing problems.
“Hard defeats” for Zverev
However, all these difficulties are offset by the bare numbers. Zverev celebrated his 52nd victory of the season on Saturday evening; no other tennis professional can keep up. He also won the Masters in Rome in May. A title win in Cincinnati, his second after 2021, would move him up to second place in the world rankings; he has never been better. In the race to take part in the ATP final of the best eight of the year in Turin, he is comfortably in third place.
Zverev knows this, but he also knows the reasons for this latent feeling of disappointment. “It’s been a good year,” he says, “but I’ve also had to deal with a few very tough defeats.” The Olympic quarter-final exit, the narrowly lost final at the French Open against Carlos Alcaraz, an early defeat at Wimbledon and an unfortunate one at the Australian Open. All of these days remained in the memory – only at the US Open could Zverev make them forgotten.
Source: www.sport.de
