The dress rehearsal in front of the French Open failed: Alexander Zverev already failed in the round of 16 at the ATP tournament at the Hamburg Rothenbaum. The local hero lost the crime thriller against the Frenchman Alexandre Muller 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 7 (5: 7) on Wednesday.
However, after the match, the Hamburger reported great health problems. “I thought it was that I vomited 37 times and had 39.4 fever all night, quite okay. I was two points away from winning the match. There is a lot to be said for me,” said Zverev, for whom after the final in his “living room” in the previous year there was already an end after two games.
He didn’t feel very good when I had to run, it was difficult. At some point he understood that I didn’t feel good and did the points as long as possible. “
Only four days until the beginning of the French Open
There is another setback for the world ranking third four days before the start of the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. And the hamburger will probably not be able to fulfill the dream of the first major title in this constitution. His state of health could explain the long emotionless game of the 28-year-old, that against the world ranking 40. made many slight mistakes.
In difficult wind conditions, Zverev did not find into the match on the Hamburg Center Court. The Tokyo’s Olympic champion indeed seemed weak. Because the surcharge did not work as usual, a sobering first set was only 34 minutes from the perspective of the German sobering.
Increase in the second round …
After his quarter -finals in Rome, Zverev had actually issued the destination for the mediocre Hamburg tournament – and at the beginning of the second round he also played accordingly. Muller, who had never won against a top five player, now reached its limits.
Zverev got the Frenchman’s serve early and finally showed his fist. He moved to 3-0 and had the encounter under control for a short while, but then had to give up his serve himself. At 4: 4, the world ranking in third had three break balls against it. With a effort, however, Zverev avoided a further loss of service and made the sentence compensation a little later.
… and a change of feelings in the third set
But that also did not ensure more security in his game, the third set for Zverev was again a change of feelings with many ups and downs. The Hamburger seemed to be on the hand several times – but again and again he brought his opponent back into the match with mistakes. After 2:40 hours the top favor was beaten.
It remains: since his final defeat at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, the Olympic champion lacks any Constance. The last of the five German professionals has also left the Rothenbaum.
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Sport Current | 21.05.2025 | 8:17 p.m.
