ATP Masters Rome: Alexander Zverev is committed - "I have to work on that"
Alexander Zverev had to tremble again, again he narrowly prevailed. In his dress rehearsal for the French Open, the Olympic champion in Rome still has room for improvement, but also a grateful draw.
by SID
last edit: May 12, 2022, 06:01 pm
Alexander Zverev only seemed really frustrated for a short time on this warm spring day in the Foro Italico. Actually "everything was fine", the Olympic champion was on course for the quarter-finals, but suddenly he lost his line, his serve and then his nerves. Zverev threw the racket in the sand, the Romans whistled in the stands - and there was not much left of a severe setback in the dress rehearsal for the French Open
Ultimately, Zverev was able to tick off the 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 5) over the nimble Australian Alex de Minaur as a work victory , but with a clear order for himself: A concentration hole like in the second set with "three extremely bad service games" is allowed he cannot afford against his true opponents. "I have to work on that," Zverev warned himself on Sky.
"I'm glad I'm in the quarter-finals"
He gets his next chance to do so on Friday in the quarter-finals against Croatian Marin Cilic or Chilean Cristian Garin - a grateful draw when you think back to last year when clay court king Rafael Nadal (Spain) stood in the way in the same round. This time Zverev, Rome winner of 2017, gets another match to gain momentum as the clear favorite for the Grand Slam highlight in Paris (from May 22nd).
Zverev (25) knows that another win at the traditional clay court masters in Italy is a must, even if he's still a little "tired" after the night's exertions and the Madrid final. "I'm glad I'm in the quarter-finals and have a chance of reaching the semi-finals. That's the politically correct answer and I stand by it," he said mischievously. He had long since regained his good mood.
Zverev on the de Minaur match: "Took several breaks"
At least in the second set, anger dominated on the court, maybe it was too easy, obviously Zverev was too sure after two quick breaks. "I took several breaks today," he said after the match point: "Actually everything was going well, then maybe I was a bit too relaxed and suddenly it's 6: 6." And the shaking started again.
As at the start against the Argentinian Sebastian Baez. Again, it took his opponent some mistakes in the tie-break to avoid a third set. De Minaur did Zverev a favor, but with a view to the upcoming tasks, including those in Roland Garros, he unequivocally stated: "I can't always lead with a break and serve to the match and then go into the tie-break." At some point this will go wrong.