“It was very cold”
Zverev is not very self -critical after defeat
05.06.2025 – 12:41 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Alexander Zverev has to wait for his first Grand Slam title. At the French Open he failed to Novak Djoković – and then looked for reasons.
The sun was hardly gone, when Alexander Zverev’s hope for moving into the semi -finals was also able to move into the semi -finals. After a strong start, the German found no more solutions against Novak Djoković in the quarter -finals of the French Open – and was looking for the causes after the defeat.
Zverev made the external circumstances in the Stade Roland Garros responsible for his defeat. “It was very cold, so the speed was not particularly high in my serve,” he said after the 3: 6, 6: 4, 2: 6, 4: 6 against the 38-year-old Serbs. At the beginning of the game, the sun still shone on the Court Philippe-Chatrier, it was around 20 degrees warm. “I was able to play a few winners and do damage with my serve.”
With continuous playing time, however, it cooled noticeably – the match slowed down, Zverev seemed increasingly unable to ideas. “From a certain point I had the feeling that I no longer knew how to make a point of the baseline against him,” said Zverev and added that Djoković had an answer to everything. He added appreciatively: “He played better today than I did.”
But not only the result, but also Zverev’s idea. It was not the first time that the 28-year-old lacked variability in the course of an important match. Djoković acted extremely constant, brought back many balls – Zverev, on the other hand, had aggressiveness missed. So he missed the Paris semi -finals for the fifth time in a row.
After 3:17 hours, the disappointment with the Olympic champion was noticeable. Zverev left open how things will continue. “I’m going to play golf. I don’t feel like a tennis right now,” he said.
In the coming week, Zverev will actually be in the field of participants at the Rasurnier in Stuttgart. In previous years he had always canceled at short notice because of his Paris success. After the quarter-finals against Djoković, there would be time to prepare for the lawn season.