After his early exit from the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome, Alexander Zverev will compete in the ATP tournament in Geneva next week. The Olympic champion will receive a wild card for the sand court event, as the organizers announced.
Zverev decided to take part at short notice in order to be able to collect match practice before the French Open. The second Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season begins on May 28th in Paris. Zverev won the title in Geneva in 2019.
Zverev had reached the semi-finals in Paris last year, but was stopped there by a serious foot injury against eventual winner Rafael Nadal. Since his return at the turn of the year, Zverev has been looking for his form and has now slipped down to 22nd place in the rankings.
In the coming week, Zverev will even be replaced in the world rankings by Jan-Lennard Struff as the best German tennis player.
The 33-year-old Warsteiner is playing in the Challenger tournament in Bordeaux this week after a short break following the Masters 1000 event in Madrid. There Struff is now in the semifinals after a clear 6: 3, 6: 2 against the French Corentin Moutet. Struff, like Zeverv, wants to start in Geneva next week.