Alexander Zverev: "My life built on being successful at Grand Slams"
In the run-up to the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev emphasized the importance of the Grand Slam tournaments for him and at the same time revealed that the defeat in the final of the US Open was still deep.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jan 28, 2021, 05:15 pm
In the end, there were two points that should separate Alexander Zverev from his first Grand Slam title on this memorable night in New York City. The German dominated the action in Flushing Meadows for two and a half sentences in the final of the US Open, literally played a weak Dominic Thiem against the wall - and consequently looked like the sure winner. In the end, however, it should not be enough for the German - Thiem started a sensational race to catch up and grabbed the premiere major trophy himself in a heartbeat finish in the tie-break of the fifth set.
"Every day, every day during training, every day with what I do", Zverev thinks back to this defeat even today, to those two points that made the difference between victory and defeat that evening. "That's why: I really want to. Since then, I've only built my whole life on the fact that I can be successful in the Grand Slams, and I hope that I can show that this year," the 23-year-old told Bild live .
The next chance for the big coup in a major is already around the corner, on February 8th, the Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam of the year. In the run-up to this event, however, there were discrepancies, for example when around 70 players had to go into a tough quarantine because they were on a plane with positive COVID-19 cases.
Zverev: "You have to understand the Australians"
Although this represents a competitive disadvantage for the athletes concerned, Alexander Zverev also knows that: "Of course, it is not easy if someone has to be in quarantine for 14 days and then he has to go to the tennis court with all of us who train normally That’s also a little unfair, ”said the seventh in the world rankings. On the other hand, you also have to understand the Australian population, who have a very low level of infection due to long and hard lockdowns: "The Australians have no corona cases except us tennis players in the country at the moment. They were in a tough lockdown for six months did better than any other country in the world, I think. "
Before the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev will lead the German team at the ATP Cup, which is scheduled to start on February 2nd. Jan-Lennard Struff will serve as number two for Germany. At the Australian Open, Zverev goes into the race as a favorite, especially at the end of the season at the tournament double in Cologne and at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris-Bercy. In the previous year, Zverev failed in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam Down Under due to Dominic Thiem.