Alexander Zverev railed against Gerard Pique: He's breaking the Davis Cup
Alexander Zverev emphasizes his absolute will to win a medal for Germany at the Olympics in Tokyo - and repeats his criticism of the current Davis Cup format.
by SID
last edit: Apr 29, 2021, 02:13 pm
Alexander Zverev was almost a little furious. He quickly checked off his opening win at the ATP tournament in Munich when he tried to explain again in emotional terms why he didn't feel like playing the Davis Cup. "You can't just ruin a 120 or 130-year tennis history with money," he said angrily, "especially when a football player comes in and says: This is how it is played now. And suddenly everyone does it . " You have just seen where that will lead in football with the Super League.
Said football player is Gerard Pique, Spanish world and European champion and icon at FC Barcelona. Pique is the figurehead of the investment company Kosmos, which two years ago secured the rights to the Davis Cup for allegedly three billion euros and turned the mode inside out. Zverev doesn't want to play because it "just makes him sad" that someone with a lot of money has "just put on a new tournament" and doesn't care about tradition. At the same time he emphasized: "I don't play because I don't want to play with the boys."
Zverev leaves participation in the Davis Cup open
The "boys", namely doubles specialist Kevin Krawietz and Jan-Lennard Struff, sat down again on Tuesday at the MTTC Iphitos facility. Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann and association vice-president Dirk Hordorff were there too. Krawietz and Struff then reported that they still wanted to try to persuade Zverev to participate in the quarter-finals against Austria and Serbia from November 25th in Innsbruck. The courted also said: "I'll think about it again." But he doesn't want to be seen as a faller either.
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So that there are no misunderstandings. "I really like to represent Germany," emphasized Zverev, and that is why there are no discussions for him or with him about the Olympic Games in Tokyo: "In terms of sport, the Olympic Games are the greatest where you can take part." It's not about him, it's just "about Germany" and that's why he wants to play all competitions if possible: singles, doubles, mixed. And then "it doesn't matter where you get the medal," he said energetically: "A gold medal is a gold medal."
Mixed with Kerber in danger?
The individual top 56 in the world rankings are automatically included in Tokyo, the deadline for this is June 14, the day after the French Open. In addition to Zverev (6th), Struff (44th) and Dominik Koepfer (54th) would also be at the Olympics - Angelique Kerber (26th) for the women. Zverev and Krawietz, number 18 in the doubles world rankings, would be one of 24 pairings that are permanently eligible to start in doubles. Two doubles are possible, which begs the question: who will end up playing with whom? Krawietz, for example, has already formed a double with Struff.
In mixed, Zverev would compete with Kerber, but, he noted, "it is not certain that we will get in there". In Tokyo there is only room for 16 mixed pairings, admission is based on the combined placements on the world rankings. And Kerber is not in a good position at the moment.