French Open: From the dream - flu-weakened Zverev fails in the second round
Alexander Zverev lamented, threw the bat, got the doctor on the court - but in the end it was all in vain: The dream of the German number one of the first Grand Slam title in 2020 fell through in the round of 16 of the French Open.
by SID / tennisnet
last edit: Oct 04, 2020, 04:19 pm
The apparently flu-weakened world number seven had to admit defeat to 19-year-old Italian shooting star Jannik Sinner 3: 6, 3: 6, 6: 4, 3: 6 on Sunday.
Instead of catching up with Boris Becker in Roland Garros with his third quarter-finals and now looking forward to a duel with record winner Rafael Nadal, the 23-year-old from Hamburg ended his major season with a disappointment. With the final at the US Open and the semi-finals at the Australian Open, Zverev came closer than ever to his goal, the culmination of one of the four most important tennis events. In Paris, however, he had hoped for more.
The South Tyrolean Sinner, on the other hand, is the first French Open debutant since Nadal in 2005 to reach the round of the last eight. Daniel Altmaier (Kempen) can do the same on Monday, Laura Siegemund is also still in the race for the German Tennis Association (DTB). The double defending champions Kevin Krawietz / Andreas Mies have already reached the quarter-finals.
Zverev had obviously not gone into the match with one hundred percent freshness, contacted the doctors in the first sentence and received a nasal spray. He knew that he would need all his power against Sinner, whom he already sees as one of the best players in the world "right from the start".
Sinner, whom Zverev knows well from several joint training sessions, marched into the round of 16 without losing a set and dominated the initial phase. Zverev's job was to throw his powerful opponent off balance. That didn't work at first. Zverev quickly conceded a break to 1: 3 two days after the sovereign three-set victory against ex-semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato.
"Zverev has to play his best match today," said Becker at Eurosport: "This is not for weak bodies and soft nerves." And Zverev, who mentally made a big leap forward in the current season, worked out breakballs, but was initially unable to use them. In frustration, he slammed his bat on the floor.
Sinner, still 75th in the world rankings with a clear upward trend, did not play correctly in the second set either. But Zverev had to fight hard for almost every point, he often lacked the killer instinct in the rallies. The second round was gone after 79 minutes. But Zverev did not give up, fought doggedly and used Sinner's weak phase at the end of the third set. But then Sinner switched up again and deservedly prevailed.
Altmaier wants to follow suit on Monday, who confidently goes into a duel with Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta (No. 17) after the three-set win against number seven Italian Matteo Berrettini. "That was just the beginning," said Altmaier. Siegemund also expects good chances after the coup against Petra Martic (Croatia / No. 13) against Paula Badosa Gilbert (Spain).