Alexander Zverev before the BMW Open: good mood, elbows questionable
Alexander Zverev has been preparing in Munich for the ATP tournament there in the coming week since Wednesday. He sees himself as a favorite but has a handicap to overcome.
by SID
last edit: Apr 24, 2021, 03:10 pm
Alexander Zverev flicked a mischievous smile over his face when tournament director Patrik Kühnen pulled the silver tarpaulin from the special prize for the winner of the ATP tournament in Munich. The best German tennis player has already won twice on the MTTC Iphitos facility, in 2017 and 2018, and both times he was allowed to take a fancy car with him. "I already have two two-seaters, a four-seater wouldn't be bad," he said. The man can be helped: The 180,000 euro expensive vehicle would fit.
However, it is not certain whether he will be the winner from Center Court on Sunday in a week. "I'm looking forward to being the favorite," emphasized Zverev on Friday, but he also suspects: "It won't be an easy week."
There are the competitors, even if the South Tyrolean shooting star Jannik Sinner canceled after reaching the semi-finals in Barcelona. Zverev's toughest opponents are likely to be the Russian whiz kid Aslan Karazew (ATP 28) and the strong Norwegian Casper Ruud (ATP 24) - but the German number one can only meet both in the final.
Lost to David Goffin
And then there is Zverev's right elbow. At the Masters in Miami, he damaged his bones and cartilage, followed by a three-week break. Before his start at the Masters in Monte Carlo last week, he was only able to train for one day, then was eliminated in the round of 16 against the Belgian David Goffin. Then, on Friday last week, his own blood was injected into the joint. "I still have to be careful," he now emphasized, "it still has to heal completely."
Where did the injury come from? Well, speculated Zverev, after having repeatedly had problems with his serve over the past two years, he worked on it for "hours" in training - and probably overdid it. He has therefore "not made any more serve" since Monte Carlo, and "everything that is overhead is difficult" at the moment. The injury is also "getting better with every week". It is a good thing that his first match at the BMW Open is scheduled for Wednesday at the earliest.
Zverev has space for another car
Zverev was also noted how comfortable he feels on the neat facility at the Aumeister in Munich. "We've been in a bubble for nine months now," he reported, "in Rotterdam", where he lost in the first round at the beginning of March, "I thought I'd go nuts." Always only hotel and hall, no "fresh air to breathe". His friend Dominic Thiem, who lamented a "certain emptiness" in his head these days, is a "perfect example" of how the effects of Corona affect him and others.
But luckily there are "weeks when you arrive and know you will play well," said Zverev - and Munich is such a place. In addition to the prize money and a pair of lederhosen, "which I don't really need in Monte Carlo now", there is also a fancy car to be won there. That would fit in every way, emphasized Zverev with a grin: "I've just moved to Monte Carlo, and the garage has three spaces." So there would still be something free for a four-seater.