Alexander Zverev - Long-awaited reunion with colleagues
Alexander Zverev will make his comeback in an exhibition fight in Saudi Arabia next week. And finally meet a few colleagues who he had already missed.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 03, 2022, 06:43 pm
2016 was the year in which Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem faced each other almost every week in the spring: Munich, Nice, Roland Garros, and then another meeting in Beijing in the fall. The German-Austrian summit had what it takes to become a classic on the ATP tour. The fact that only seven more games have been added since then (Thiem leads the record with 8-3 wins) is also due to the injury-related breaks between the two.
"It seems to me that Dominic and I haven't seen each other for two years because first he was injured in 2021 and I was injured this year," explains Zverev in the run-up to the exhibition fight tournament in Saudi Arabia. "So we kind of missed each other. I'm excited to be back on tour and finally playing matches again."
Now the event in Saudi Arabia is not part of the ATP tour, but a private pleasure for some investors who want to use the event to give their country, which has an extremely bad reputation in terms of human rights, a better image. The "tour" starts for Zverev on December 29th, then the United Cup will play for ATP points again. How strong the 2022 season was until his injury in Roland Garros is illustrated by the fact that Alexander Zverev is still in twelfth place in the current ATP charts. Despite a forced break of half a year.
Zverev could have been number one
It's probably not too daring to speculate to say that Zverev had an excellent chance of finishing the season as number one in the world. The jump to the top of the world rankings would have been possible with a triumph at the French Open.
It will be exciting to see how far Zverev is in terms of play after his long break. Buddy Thiem took a little longer to get back on track than Rafael Nadal, for example. However, due to recurring injury problems, the Spaniard already has a certain expertise in terms of comebacks.
However, one thing should be assumed in Alexander Zverev's class: that title number 20 will work out next year. The Olympic champion was able to celebrate the last one in Tokyo at the ATP Finals 2021.