Australian Open: Alexander Zverev with Nowitzki as a lucky charm - and in a larger space
Alexander Zverev will contest his opening duel with Juan Pablo Varillas at the Australian Open 2023 in the Margaret Court Arena. Also present: Dirk Nowitzki.
by SID/tennisnet
last edit:
Jan 16, 2023, 08:43 am
Alexander Zverev probably has a prominent lucky charm by his side on his Grand Slam comeback. Basketball icon Dirk Nowitzki, whom Zverev met in the run-up to the Australian Open, has announced himself for the game against Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas in Melbourne on Tuesday. "I think he will be there for my match," said the Olympic champion.
Nowitzki will have to appear earlier than initially planned. Nick Kyrgios' injury-related withdrawal has an impact on the scheduling of Zverev's first major game since the French Open. The performance of the former world number one has been moved from the 1573 Arena to the larger Margaret Court Arena and will not start before 4:30 a.m. Central European Time (Eurosport).
At the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev has reached the semi-finals once, but had to admit defeat to Dominic Thiem in 2020. Two years ago, in the quarterfinals against Novak Djokovic, last year Zverev surprisingly failed in the round of 16 due to Denis Shapovalov. In the run-up to this year's edition, Zverev had dampened expectations given the injury history.
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