Alexander Zverev reached the quarterfinals of the ATP tournament in Vienna despite physical problems.
The number two seed from Hamburg defeated qualifier Matteo Arnaldi (Italy) 6:4, 6:4 in the town hall of the Austrian capital and will now face Tallon Griekspoor (Netherlands).
“I feel my body a lot, unfortunately”Zverev said after the narrow first round win against Scot Jacob Fearnley. But against Arnaldi he was able to rely on his serve; he only allowed one break point in the entire match. He himself took the service from number 72 in the world rankings in the first set when the score was 4:4, and in the second round he managed an early break to make it 2:1 – that was enough.
Zverev – goodbye to Griekspoor
For Zverev, who won the title in Vienna in 2021, it was the third duel with Arnaldi this year. In both Acapulco (February) and Toronto (July) he lost the first set but won the match. Griekspoor, who he lost to in Indian Wells in March, is now waiting in the round of the last eight. The last two duels went to the German.
Zverev has been struggling with back pain and physical problems for weeks, and there were “unfortunately some uncertainties” in the run-up to the indoor tournament in Austria, the Hamburg native said after his trepidation win against Fearnley.
Zverev wants to get his fitness back during the current game – after the tournament in Vienna there is the Masters in Paris, which he values very much, where he has to defend 1000 points as defending champion.