Munich (dpa) – Grand Slam victory and number 1 in the world – tennis professional Alexander Zverev has not yet been able to meet his ambitious goals.
The knockout round at the Australian Open and missed titles at the big events in Miami and Monte Carlo was followed by the next major setback this season with the early defeat in Munich. “I’m going in the direction where the highlight of my career should be,” said the Hamburger. But he lags behind his own expectations.
Zverev’s tennis at 3: 6 and 2: 6 against the Danish teenager Holger Rune on Wednesday was “bottomless” from the German’s point of view. The forehand, which had caused him problems so many times in his career, was almost completely absent. “I played without a forehand today. I would have lost to anyone in the main draw,” admitted the 25-year-old self-critically. Zverev seemed unimaginative, which his help-seeking looks into the box made clear.
And rune? He demonstrated impressively which – supposedly simple – means to annoy Zverev: stop balls. The fact that the German is usually several meters behind the baseline is no surprise for the competition. And yet the weak point in the game of the third in the world rankings became clear again.
Zverev has hope for the past year, which is probably his most successful with winning the gold medal at the Olympics. Even then, the start of the year was not ideal. At the same time – i.e. after the tournament in Munich – Zverev had twelve wins and seven defeats in 2021. This year he has 15 wins and seven defeats (excluding Davis Cup games) after his knockout round. Is the turning point coming again?