Melbourne (AP) – Alexander Zverev chatted relaxed after his easy round of 16 at the Australian Open about his fascination with space.
The clear 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 4 against the qualifier Radu Albot from Moldova should only be a small intermediate step on the hoped-for path to his title premiere at a Grand Slam tournament. The 24-year-old can still access Stephen Hawking’s book in Melbourne next week.
Fascination for the universe
“I was always very interested in space. I always found it breathtaking to know where we come from and how everything came about,” revealed the number three in the tennis world. “It’s always interesting to read new things about it. The subject just doesn’t stop there. You can learn about it until the end of your life.”
The Hamburger had already said a few days earlier that he was a “huge fan” of Hawking and that reading before a match helps him to get a fresh mind. Now the 2020 Melbourne semi-finalist also said that books are a way for him not to just dabble on his cell phone or stare at a screen and watch series: “It’s a good way to get away from it a bit and just switch off completely.”
His fascination with space started because his brother Mischa was interested in the subject. “I’m not a Star Wars fan at all or anything,” he clarified: “I saw a documentary about it at some point, on a plane somewhere. Since then it’s really fascinated me and then it started a little bit.”
His match against Albot was about three hours ago when Zverev talked about his little hobby. Once again, the ambitious 2020 US Open finalist was still training after the match, just like after rounds one and two. He probably played a little better against the Australian John Millman, he admitted.
Not in top shape yet
The duel with the world number 124. Albot will not be remembered as one of his most intriguing Grand Slam matches. Zverev stayed a long way from his best tennis. But he didn’t need top form to make it into the round of 16 of the Australian Open for the fourth time in a row without losing a set. “It was a work victory,” said Boris Becker.
In the meantime, Zverev bit his tennis racket, threw it on the ground and slapped his face in his hand. Because he allowed himself a few lack of concentration. When his second serve failed completely and he missed his first match point with a double fault, the third in the world rankings looked angrily at his team around brother Mischa. “I didn’t feel perfect – but who is perfect? In the end I won and I’m happy about it,” said the Olympic champion. At Eurosport he commented: “I think I will hopefully not play worse than today in the tournament.”
Now against Shapovalov
In the round of the top 16, Zverev meets the world number 14 on Sunday. Denis Shapovalov from Canada, who won 7: 6 (7: 4), 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 against the American Reilly Opelka. “Hopefully there will be four more good matches for me,” said Zverev. The number of German tennis professionals at the Grand Slam tournament in the Australian metropolis had quickly decimated in the past few days. Zverev was the only one of twelve German participants to make it into the third round in singles.
Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies also have a chance of reaching the quarterfinals in doubles. In their second round match, Krawietz and Mies, seeded 12, defeated the Americans Austin Krajicek/Sam Querrey 6:4, 6:7 (7:9), 6:4. In order to progress, the duo now has to beat five-seeded John Peers from Australia and Filip Polasek from Slovakia. “The draw is not easy,” said Krawietz after he had reached the round of 16 of the Australian Open for the first time together with Mies. Polasek secured the title with Croatian Ivan Dodig in Melbourne in 2021.