Wimbledon 2021: Zverev stacks deep, Kerber comes with momentum
Alexander Zverev stacks deep before the start of the classic lawn at Wimbledon. Angelique Kerber , on the other hand, longs for the turning point at the place of her greatest triumph.
by SID
last edit: Jun 26, 2021, 07:43 am
This time, Alexander Zverev refrained from making any research announcements, rather the tennis star practiced in typical British understatement before the start at Wimbledon. While Angelique Kerber goes to the place of her greatest triumph after difficult months with a huge portion of self-confidence, the Hamburg-based man is stacking deep two weeks after the French Open so narrowly missed the final - because the "holy lawn" is very special.
Of the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon is "the tournament that is the hardest for me to win," said Zverev and made no secret of the fact that the classic lawn in London, which fell victim to the corona pandemic last year, not particularly lies. "I've had better results on other surfaces," said the 24-year-old soberly, having only reached the last sixteen at the All England Club so far.
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Zverev has been preparing in London SW19 since Tuesday, the Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor is waiting as the opening opponent. The top favorite for the title is without a doubt French Open champion Novak Djokovic - but national coach Michael Kohlmann also sees Zverev behind it. "He is one of the players who will play for the title," said the Davis Cup team boss at Spox: "There is no reason why Sascha cannot play very successfully on grass."
Kerber with a disappointing first half of the season
The starting position at Kerber is completely different. After a disappointing first half of the season, she wants to break the black streak of three first-round bankruptcies in Grand Slam tournaments at Wimbledon, and Church Road has been a good place for her not just since winning the title in 2018.
That the German number one simply feels good on grass, she impressively demonstrated this week at the home tournament in Bad Homburg, where she reached her first final in almost two years on Friday with a three-set win in the semifinals against the two-times Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic).
However, the shape curve points up steeply just in time. Nevertheless, Kerber "doesn't put any pressure on himself", as the three-time Grand Slam winner said, "because I think there are other top favorites at Wimbledon at the moment. I will take it more calmly and not look so far ahead . "
Nadal and Thiem are missing
From her frustrating first-round bankruptcy at the French Open, she "took away a lot of things that I can now change on grass. I'm doing quite well so far," said the 33-year-old in Bad Homburg, where she is also the tournament ambassador. The draw on Friday brought Kerber at Wimbledon the Serbian Nina Stojanovic as a grateful opening opponent. But already in the third round there could be a new edition of the final three years ago against US superstar Serena Williams.
Zverev's way is much easier, after the cancellations of Grand Slam record champion Rafael Nadal and US Open winner Dominic Thiem, the German top player is in fourth place in London - this means that he will not face a higher-rated opponent until the semifinals can, the big favorite Djokovic would wait until the final. But for Zverev only the title counts. A semi-final, as the Hamburger had already emphasized in Paris, would no longer satisfy him - with Kerber it would certainly be completely different.
Here the single tableau of the women in Wimbledon
Here is the men's individual tableau at Wimbledon
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