Alexander Zverev (26) travels to the French Open in Paris without the hoped-for sense of achievement. The tennis Olympic champion lost in the semifinals of the ATP tournament in Geneva against Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6: 7 (3: 7), 3: 6 and missed his first final after the ankle injury he suffered in Roland Garros a year ago.
Zverev has a few days to recover from the disappointment before his opening match at the high point of the clay court season.
His first round game against the South African Lloyd Harris, number 306 in the ranking, will only take place on Monday or Tuesday. Instead of more match practice and self-confidence, Zverev appears in Paris with doubts. The man from Hamburg is a long way from his top form from last year, when he had his first Grand Slam title and first place in the world rankings in mind until the fatal injury in the semifinals.
Zverev with too many double faults
That was also evident against Jarry. Four years ago, Zverev won the final in Geneva against his opponent, who was uncomfortable on sand, this time he often got himself into trouble. He made five double mistakes when he served the world number 54. Jarry he was often without a chance.
Zverev shrugged and looked helplessly into his box. In Geneva he only managed a befitting victory at the start against Christopher Eubanks (USA). In the quarter-finals, he was on the pitch for 21 minutes before China’s Wu Yibing retired. He fought for his chance against Jarry until the end, had his first break point at 3:5 in the second set, but had to admit defeat after 1:46 hours.