ATP Finals: Alexander Zverev - "I've done my job"
After the lackluster success against Diego Schwartzman , Alexander Zverev has to win against Novak Djokovic on Friday in order to have a chance at the semi-finals at the ATP Finals 2020 in London.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Nov 18, 2020, 07:23 pm
When Alexander Zverev and Diego Schwartzman faced each other in Cologne in October, in the final of the second ATP tournament on the Rhine, it was an extremely fleeting and dubious pleasure for the Argentine. Schwartzman lost the game silently against the highly superior, confident and stylish Zverev, at the end a 6: 2, 6: 1 final result flashed on the video screens of the Lanxess Arena.
When they met again in London, now in the second group game of the ATP Finals, Schwartzman did not play much better on Wednesday afternoon. The fact that he could still hope for a win against the German giant for a long time was perhaps the most significant evidence of Zverev's falling performance curve in the late autumn of this turbulent and eerie season. Zverev, the 2018 world champion, ultimately won 6: 3, 4: 6 and 6: 3 against the small, nimble Argentine, but in the last, all-important game on Friday against frontman Novak Djkokovic, he did not have too much tailwind take. “I've done my job. It was better than at the beginning, "said Zverev after the mandatory win against Schwartzman. It rightly sounded not very euphoric or enthusiastic.
Zverev recklessly forgives the second sentence
As always at the Tennis World Cup, speculating and arithmetic begin before the last group matches. And one thing is clear: If in the end a player like Djokovic wins all three matches and the other three only one each, then Zverev would have taken an unnecessary penalty in the game against Schwartzman. Should the set ratio then make the difference, the carelessly lost second round against the Argentine could still play a very bitter role for the 23-year-old from Hamburg. “I can't do more now than try to win the last game. I no longer have everything else in my hand, ”said Zverev.
In an actually trust-building 6: 3, 3: 1 lead, Zverev suddenly made life difficult for himself again. Almost abruptly, the German slipped into a low performance, again and again you saw Zverev marching struggling and cursing across the square. Even appeasing his team didn't help, the match favorite got completely off track and lost from 3: 1 to six of the next seven games - until 0: 1 in the third round. "Diego is an ungrateful, difficult opponent," said Zverev afterwards, "it's always a tough fight." But actually he was the real opponent himself from time to time, the too agitated, unsteady and not too gripping Zverev.
The fact that he later attested a “much better performance” than at the start of the debacle against the Russian Medvedev was undoubtedly an exaggeration. But at least Zverev made one more headway against Schwartzman in the final spurt, finally he went into the rallies with more determination on the home straight, and even after good preparation he moved up to the net. Now it will be "really exciting," said Zverev, on Friday against Djokovic, resident of the summit. In 2018, he had defeated the world number one on the way to a brilliant World Cup triumph in the final - after bathing in the first group game against the Serbs. Now Zverev can most likely no longer afford to defeat the number one, if the duel with the Serbian fails, his season would presumably be over.
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