French Open: Alexander Zverev sees Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the top favorites
Alexander Zverev has Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on the list at the French Open, which starts on Sunday. The 25-year-old himself would like to win the title at Grand Slam level for the first time in Paris.
by SID/red
last edit: May 20, 2022, 08:24 pm
For Alexander Zverev, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic remain the "number one and two favorites" for the French Open, which begins on Sunday - despite the meteoric rise of Spanish young star Carlos Alcaraz. "It takes more to win a Grand Slam tournament than just playing tennis well," said Zverev in Paris on Friday.
Together with his father Alexander senior and trainer Sergi Bruguera, he watched the training of record winner Nadal (Spain). "It's funny," said Zverev: "Suddenly his forehand is 20 miles faster and he moves more lightly. There's something about this place that makes him 30 percent better."
Djokovic picks up speed
World number one Djokovic is also finding his form again. "He's getting better on clay every day and he played fantastic in Rome," said Zverev, who also saw an increase in performance in himself: "I think I've increased my level with every clay court tournament, so I hope to play my real tennis here."
So far, the Olympic champion in 2022 has not won a tournament, which is "of course a bit disappointing," Zverev admitted, but "if I win the title here, I'll be more than happy with my clay court season".
Zverev in "hammer" half
At the start, the Hamburger meets a qualifier, otherwise the draw on Thursday evening had less good news for Zverev. All the favorites cavort with him in the upper half: Nadal, Djokovic and Alcaraz, who recently played his way into the group of co-favorites with the triumphs in Barcelona and Madrid. "Probably," Zverev suspected, "the Roland Garros champion will come from the top half."
Only recently did brother Mischa Zverev explain in the Eurosport podcast "Das Gelbe vom Ball" that his brother had received a special motivational boost from the defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid, and he still didn't want to be overtaken by the exceptional 19-year-old talent. The best chance for this could be in the round of eight if Zverev could meet the Spanish shooting star as planned.
Here the individual tableau in Roland-Garros
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