Tommy Haas on Alexander Zverev: "Will soon be playing his best tennis again"
Tommy Haas has been quite optimistic about Alexander Zverev 's return to his top form.
by SID/red
last edit: Jan 23, 2023, 10:52 am
Former world number two Tommy Haas expects Alexander Zverev to get back in shape relatively quickly. "I'm a bit surprised that he says: I might not play my best tennis again until the clay court season comes. That's only in the middle or end of April," said Haas on the sidelines of the Australian Open: "With a player like Sascha , I think it will go faster and we will have another good player in Indian Wells."
Haas is the tournament director for the first Masters tournament of the year in California in March. Zverev made his Grand Slam comeback in Melbourne after an injury break of more than seven months and was eliminated in the second round. The Olympic champion then said that for him it was "still a long way" back to old class.
Strong competition for Zverev
"Sure, you need match practice and the feeling of winning matches again," said Haas: "But I'm quite sure that he will soon be playing his best tennis again." Then it will be interesting how Zverev will play against the "new guard" with the world number one Carlos Alcaraz from Spain, the Dane Holger Rune and the up-and-coming Americans around Sebastian Korda. The latter is playing his best Grand Slam tournament so far at the Australian Open, reaching a quarterfinal at major level for the first time on Sunday.
"It will be a good year for him to see how much he still wants to pursue his goal of winning a Grand Slam tournament," said Haas about Zverev's situation: "Because it won't get any easier." At times Zverev has a final at Grand Slam level, which the native of Hamburg had to give up against friend Dominic Thiem in Flushing Meadows despite a 2-0 set lead.