French Open: Alexander Zverev - The end of a very good Grand Slam year
Alexander Zverev was eliminated in the French Open 2020 in the round of 16. Overall, however, the German number one can look back on the best Grand Slam year of his career.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Oct 04, 2020, 11:17 pm
Alexander Zverev kept running back and forth far behind the baseline. He fought desperately and fiercely, often hopelessly for every ball. He did not give up, although on October 4th, his last day of tennis under the Eiffel Tower, he never had a real chance of winning against a superior, sovereign, ice-cold rival. The world ranking seventh was surprisingly stopped in windy Paris by an even younger, 19-year-old South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner , who slept in like a veteran of the traveling circus in the round of 16 showdown: 3: 6, 3: 6, 6: 4 and 3 : 6 - that was the bitter total bill from Zverev's point of view, after three hours and one minute of tough sliding in the red sand. This also ended the German world-class player's Grand Slam year, a very good year in the short Corona season. Semifinals at the Australian Open, finals at the US Open, now the second round in Paris, that was impressive. But more, especially in New York, would have been possible.
However, there could be no talk of greater chances at Zverev's personal final in the Roland Garros stadium. From the first minute of the duel with Sinner, the 22-year-old from Hamburg was on the defensive, literally and tactically. Sinner was the pacemaker, the director, the driver of the game. And Zverev, whom his fans could barely see on the television screen in the low defensive position almost at the level of the linesman, was the driven, the rushed, the reacting. “Tennis is like a boxing match. And that's where Sascha is hanging on the ropes today ”, stated Eurosport man Boris Becker rightly. Zverev was also unable to cover up his frustration with the way things were going for the first time in many weeks. Most recently a rather stoic, balanced leading actor in all tennis situations, the favorite slammed the racket on the court angrily in the first sentence, shortly afterwards threw the racket around again angrily.
Zverev ran after the music
Was Zverev still in full possession of his powers? Not quite. In the first sentence, the German had the medical team come to the field, he was then given a nasal spray because he apparently could not breathe properly. “He caught a cold three days ago,” explained Zverev's brother Mischa in a TV connection from Monte Carlo, “but he didn't want it to get out into the public eye. And that it could be taken as an excuse if things don't go that way. "
In any case, the fact was: Zverev almost always followed the music in the 181 minutes of playing time on Court Suzanne Lenglen. And anyone who had believed that Sinner, who had advanced to a Grand Slam round of 16 for the first time, could someday get the shaky hand and experience a break-in, was seriously mistaken in the gripping teenager. Even what he saw as an unnecessary loss of a set to Zverev's 1: 2 connection, the formerly highly talented ski racer easily put away in the wind-swept arena. He was quickly back on the trigger in the fourth and then last act, keeping the strong fighting Zverev at a distance. “That was one of my best games ever,” Sinner said right away on the scene of the event. However, he will also be able to use the self-confidence that he fueled against Zverev on Tuesday - then the elegant technician can face the Herculean task against Matador Rafael Nadal , the Parisian series winner.
Zverev, the loser, had all in all sold more than properly in Paris, the last stop of the Grand Slam entourage in this exceptional year of the pandemic. Mainly because he was able to scare away the dark shadows of his traumatic final defeat in New York in the Roland Garros start phase and, so to speak, press the reset button. Everything started all over again, even if not under ideal conditions for the 22-year-old, who would have liked fast ground conditions. And got cool, damp autumn weather instead. Sometimes he struggled late at night in single-digit temperatures, it wasn't exactly a pleasure. The German number one remained one last big goal, presumably at least - because whether the World Cup final of the best eight can and will actually take place in November in London has not yet been decided. If everything is going well, Zverev wants to play again for a big title.
Here is the single tableau of the French Open
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