Melbourne (AP) – At the moment of his surprising and inexplicable low point, tennis star Alexander Zverev wasted no thought on his first Grand Slam triumph and the top of the world rankings.
Almost half a year after his Olympic victory in Tokyo, the feeling of great happiness has evaporated with the sobering round of 16 at the Australian Open. The “terrible” 3: 6, 6: 7 (5: 7), 3: 6 against the anything but outstanding Canadian Denis Shapovalov left Germany’s best tennis player in Melbourne at a loss. The 24-year-old from Hamburg didn’t seem to know how to really achieve his goals in Melbourne.
Self-critical Zverev after the match
“I’ll still do everything I can to eventually lift the Grand Slam trophy,” said Zverev: “Of course it’s silly to talk about it at the moment because I just lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open when Number three lawman. So I’m a long way from that right now.” He has to think about himself, he said: “I came here with the goal of winning and maybe becoming number one. But if I play like that, I don’t deserve it. It’s that simple.”
Deeply disappointed, slowly and with heavy steps, Zverev crept onto the Melbourne press podium for the last time this year. He lowered his head and took off his accreditation. Even the Olympict shirt with the federal eagle could not alleviate the frustration at this moment.
After months in which many things on the tennis court seemed to be taken for granted, the mysterious and strange performance against the 22-year-old Canadian left-hander brought him back to earth. This departure was not to be expected. The fact that Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic was absent increased the chance of winning a title in the most important category of his sport, which he has been striving for for years. Now even the quarter-final duel with the Spanish top star Rafael Nadal has burst.
Against the world number 14. and Wimbledon semi-finalist Shapovalov, who had never made it past the third round in Melbourne, there were few emotions that gave hope that Zverev could still turn the match in the Margaret Court Arena. There was no sign of the self-confidence that had characterized him in the final months of last season after his gold medal in Tokyo. At least it spoke for him that he didn’t make any excuses and took all the blame on himself. “At the end of the day it just wasn’t good enough,” he said. “I already felt extremely slow, I didn’t feel fresh.”
Frustrated Zverev smashes racket
Out of frustration, Zverev threw his racket three times on the concrete floor at the beginning of the second set and chopped it up. It was behavior reminiscent of times he had actually left behind. But Germany’s athlete of the year did not convert the outburst of anger into energy and his world-class tennis. The game was a little reminiscent of his knockout round in Melbourne in 2019 against Shapovalov’s compatriot Milos Raonic, when out of anger he threw his racket nine times on the ground in front of his bench. Little progress was evident. “I broke the racket. I don’t just do it like that. If you play so badly, you can do what you want, you can jump around as you want, it doesn’t change anything,” said the US Open finalist from 2020.
Boris Becker judged Eurosport: “I haven’t seen him so passive for a long time.” In view of the sluggish and low-energy appearance, the uncertain basic shots, all the passivity, the failed shots and frame balls and wrong decisions, even Zverev connoisseurs asked Becker if something was missing from Hamburg.
No excuses from Zverev
But when asked if he had an upset stomach, a bad night’s sleep or anything else, the former Melbourne semi-finalist replied: “I could be sitting here right now and saying, ‘I’ve got a cold and something else.’ But no, I’m always very honest. I don’t have anything. I’ve just had a shit week to be honest,” said the 24-year-old.
In the three previous games, he had already been far from the form in which he had won the best of the best at the end of November at the ATP Finals in Turin. Djokovic, the Russian US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and he had dominated men’s tennis in the past few months, Zverev once said. He thinks it is possible that this could also be the case in 2022. But the sobering realization remains that Zverev has not yet defeated a top ten player in a Grand Slam tournament. Against Nadal he would have had the next chance on Tuesday. Even against players in the top 20, which Shapovalov belongs to, his record shows far more losses than wins.
“Today I think it was the worst match I’ve played since Wimbledon last year,” Zverev summed up before saying goodbye. He also failed in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
Next tournament start in Mexico
Zverev is not expected to play his next tournament until the end of February. The current plan is for the Hamburger to compete in Acapulco from February 21 to 26, said his brother and manager Mischa Zverev. Zverev won the tournament in Mexico last year. Then there are the two Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in the USA. On Monday, however, we will fly home first.