Alexander Zverev and Germany lose at the ATP Cup start: "Didn't train enough"
It was nothing with a positive start for Alexander Zverev into 2020. He lost his nerve at the ATP Cup - and Germany with it his opening game.
by SID
last edit: Jan 03, 2020, 06:42 pm
Alexander Zverev was out of his mind. He smashed his club furiously, hesitated relentlessly, and even Boris Becker no longer reached the 22-year-old. After the inexplicable break-in of their top player, the start of the German men at the ATP Cup in Australia was promptly messed up. Even the two singles sealed the loss to the hosts, the double Kevin Krawietz / Andreas Mies could not prevent a 0: 3 afterwards.
Zverev (ATP-7.) Lost to the world rankings-18. Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 2-6. The Hamburg player initially had the game under control, but made 14 double mistakes and increasingly lost his nerve.
"It's obvious that I don't have a feeling for my serve, it's no secret. But to be honest, I just haven't trained enough," said Zverev, who had a "fresh start" after a difficult start before his first match of the year Months ago. On Friday, however, he shuffled in frustration from the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.
# # IMG2
Nick Kyrgios: Tears in TV interview
Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) had lost the first match of the match 4: 6, 6: 7 (4: 7) against Nick Kyrgios. Krawietz / Mies (Coburg / Cologne) finally failed in the 3-6, 4-6 against Chris Guccione / John Peers important cosmetic results. Germany are already under pressure in Group F on Sunday (8.30 a.m. / Sky) in the second duel against Greece, which also lost their opening game against Canada 0-3.
The encounter with the Australians released a lot of emotions. Not only with the frustrated Zverev, who destroyed his racket after the second set and kept looking for help towards team captain Becker.
Kyrgios was also deeply moved after his performance. "It's pretty difficult to go out and focus on tennis," said the 24-year-old with tears in his eyes. He meant the heavy bush fires that hit the country so badly. In his first game, he donated $ 4,000 to those affected for the 20 aces.
Ahead of the tournament, which will also take place in Perth and Sydney until June 12, the impact of the natural disaster had hit the headlines. Especially around Sydney there is a state of alert, the strong air pollution could still upset the plan.
A Challenger tournament in Canberra - among others, the Philipp Philippschreiber (Augsburg) also reported - now had to be moved to the state of Victoria .
ATP Cup: Norway is a big surprise
So far, everything has gone according to plan for the ATP Cup. It's not just about an important form check with a view of the Australian Open from January 20th. Prize money of $ 15 million and the prospect of world ranking points also attracted the majority of the top players to the fifth continent.
A surprise in Group D on the first day was Norway, which prevailed 2-1 against the USA. In addition, an embarrassing breakdown caused a little fuss. Before the Moldovan game against Belgium (0-3), the organizers played the Romanian anthem and then apologized apologetically.