French Open: piñata Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber against the series
Alexander Zverev 's form curve has recently shown a slight upward trend, but he is only an outsider in the title race at the French Open. Angelique Kerber gained fresh self-confidence.
by SID
last edit: May 19, 2022, 04:12 pm
Alexander Zverev started the "Surprise" mission in Paris with great enthusiasm. The top German player blocked the Simonne-Mathieu court for two and a half hours for a first XXL session for the final preparation for the French Open. Most recently, Zverev had revealed a lot of need for fine-tuning, before the first serve on the classic clay court he resembled a grab bag.
Despite great expectations, the Olympic champion is missing the results this season. The 25-year-old has not yet collected a trophy and has shown his best tennis far too seldom to be one of the favorites in the tournament that starts on Sunday.
"I stand where I stand," said Zverev recently on the sidelines of the Masters in Madrid. He is not really happy with his status, but it is important to deal with it. He reached the final in the Spanish capital and then clearly lost to shooting star Carlos Alcaraz, who, alongside defending champion and Rome champion Novak Djokovic and, of course, tournament record winner Rafael Nadal (13 titles) is one of the favorites at the most important clay court event.
Perhaps the role as a lurking outsider could offer Zverev a chance. Others have the pressure that the German number one at the Australian Open could not cope with. Zverev, in the semifinals in 2021, can play relatively freely.
The same applies to Angelique Kerber, for whom Paris has been a bad place in recent years. In 2018, the three-time Grand Slam winner survived the first round - but then it went on to the quarterfinals. After all, the former world number one still collected match practice in Strasbourg this week.
Nevertheless, several victories in Roland Garros would be a big surprise, Kerber has also been struggling so far this year and is already longing for their top lawn. Slight hopes also rest on Andrea Petkovic, like Kerber 34 years old. The Darmstadt native likes the game on sand and was once in the semi-finals in Paris. But that was eight years ago, the last time the world number 63 failed. in the qualification of Rome. And real successors for the two veterans have not yet emerged.
"We are heading for a gap, that's right," said President Dietloff von Arnim in the Süddeutsche Zeitung's assessment of the status quo among German women: "But I wouldn't judge the situation as bad as it is sometimes portrayed. "