Earnings crisis continues: Alexander Zverev fails early at home in Monte Carlo
The 2019 season: It remains complicated for Alexander Zverev even after his home tournament in Monte Carlo.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Apr 19, 2019, 11:57 am
There is hardly a more beautiful place in the tennis circus than the Monte Carlo Country Club. From the center court, the fantastic view alternately falls on the vastness of the Mediterranean Sea or also on the mighty rock massifs above the sophisticated principality. Alexander Zverev knows this place, this club very well, it is his tennis base station, his permanent training place, after all, after all, the 21-year-old lives here on the Cote d'Azur when he is not traveling.
But if the traditional Masters tournament goes into a hot phase this Easter weekend, Zverev, the home player, will no longer be there. On Maundy Thursday, Zverev's involvement in an important competition ended too early in this complicated season, the second appearance in the current qualifying games was already the last against the 31-year-old Italian Fabio Fognini .
Zverev: "Just need more games"
Zverev and the eccentric, ten years older, feared for his explosive outbursts of emotion and antics, met one sentence at eye level - then the native of Hamburg first lost his line, then his nerve. And then the game with 6: 7 (6: 8) and 1: 6. Zverev did not have much to say afterwards, it seemed as if the reigning tennis world champion was still at a loss after the lost match. "It was very windy and I just played badly," he said, "I hope I can get more match practice over the next few weeks. I just need more games. "
Above all, Zverev needs courage again. He needs confidence. And he needs to take the initiative in a match again, attack the opponent and implement his own strategies. At the moment, the 21-year-old too often gives the impression that he doubts about himself, as if he had more to do with his own health than with his opponent. The game has gone without saying, as has the confidence that led him to the throne at the ATP championship in London in November.
At the time, he defeated Roger Federer in the semifinals on the final weekend, then the number one man Novak Djokovic in the final. Now he failed on the first few meters of the clay court season in Marrakech on the inconspicuous Spaniard Jaume Minar and in Monte Carlo on Fognini, the unpredictable trick player. Fognini had won a single tour match from the beginning of February until the tournament in Monte Carlo, and he had also worked on various injuries. But he beat the unsettled, often agile Zverev with regained enthusiasm from the competition.
Next tournament for Zverev: Munich
For Zverev everything comes together this season, unfortunately not in the good. At the Australian Open, the first relevant tournament, the German botched his own hopes with an inexplicably clear knockout against the Canadian Milos Raonic. The major American spring tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami brought further disappointments, not least because Zverev suffered from a viral disease. But there were also other problems, the sudden lawsuit with his long-time manager Patricio Apey . Zverev is now even suing the Chilean, who insists on a business relationship until 2023. In any case, the dispute is not helpful for Zverev, who has to focus all his energies and senses on tennis.
In Monte Carlo Zverev has already lost 270 world ranking points, last year he was at least in the semi-finals. Bigger point pads have to be defended almost everywhere in the next few weeks, it is the curse of the good deeds of the previous year when Zverev was the dominant figure in the sand boxes of the tour alongside Rafael Nadal. It is no different with his next engagement. In Munich, at the end of April, Zverev started as defending champion. The pressure remains high, the drop height is still considerable for the number 3 in the world.