Indian Wells: Alexander Zverev after Aus - "Catastrophic"
Alexander Zverev 's second-round defeat at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells raises questions. Despite the lead, the German lost to Tommy Paul from the USA in three sets.
by SID
last edit:
Mar 14, 2022, 03:22 pm
Alexander Zverev grabbed his bags over his shoulders and snuck off the Center Court of the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens shaking his head. The Olympic champion has added the next chapter to his previously botched 2022 season and is already out after the first match at the prestigious Masters in the California desert.
"I don't have any answers right now. I have to go into myself now and see how I can turn this season around. At the moment everything is going in the wrong direction," said Zverev, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. In his first individual appearance after freaking out in Acapulco, he lost 2: 6, 6: 4, 6: 7 (2: 7) to the unseeded American Tommy Paul and missed qualifying for the third round.
Four double faults by Zverev
Zverev, who initially benefited from a bye in Indian Wells, now has a lot of time to ponder - and should use it. Only at the beginning of February with the finals in Montpellier and with his victories at the Davis Cup did he live up to his high expectations this year. He had previously had to accept a surprisingly early exit from the Australian Open - and all the sporting impressions are overlaid by the scenes in Acapulco, which earned him a suspended sentence and a fine from the ATP. And many critical words and looks from his competitors.
Against Paul, in the decisive phase, it seemed as if he didn't feel completely free mentally. "When I had to play it to the end, it was catastrophic," said Zverev himself, who made four double mistakes in the third set with a 4-2 lead. Now the top player has to correct his course significantly before the next stop in Miami (from March 23).
Here the individual tableau in Indian Wells
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