Rio de Janeiro (AP) – A little more than a week after the scandal in Acapulco, Alexander Zverev starts his personal reparation mission in the Davis Cup.
A few days ago, the Olympic champion surprisingly joined the German tennis team that hosted the first round in Rio de Janeiro this Friday (8:00 p.m. CET) and Saturday (6:00 p.m. CET/both live on Sportdeutschland.tv). Brazil meets.
Zverev with unacceptable behavior in Mexico
After the negative headlines because of his disqualification at the ATP tournament in Mexico, Zverev is also concerned with polishing his image again. In Acapulco, after losing a double, Zverev hit the referee’s chair several times with a tennis racket and almost hit the referee in the foot. Zverev was subsequently banned from the entire tournament and fined. In addition, the men’s organization ATP is still investigating against the 24-year-old.
“He knows his behavior was unacceptable,” said German team boss Michael Kohlmann. Zverev apologized the day after his freak out and, like Kohlmann, also described his behavior as “unacceptable”. In Rio de Janeiro, the German number one initially did not want to comment on the incidents. Instead, he wants to enjoy the always good atmosphere in the team and help Germany to qualify for the group phase of the team competition, which has been modified once again.
Zverev wants to “win the Davis Cup once”
“Together with the team, I have the big goal of winning the Davis Cup once,” said Zverev. Actually, the man from Hamburg didn’t want to play in Brazil because the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells is already on the program next week. After Acapulco there was a rethink. “Whenever an opportunity arises, I’m happy to do my part,” said Zverev.
Within the team, Zverev’s freak out in Acapulco was no longer an issue. “We haven’t addressed that specifically anymore,” said Kohlmann. Instead, the focus should be on the duel with Brazil. Based on the ranking positions of the individual players, Germany is the clear favorite going into the game. “But encounters in South America are always something special,” said Kohlmann. “The high temperatures, the special atmosphere, you have to be prepared for it.”
Tennis legend Boris Becker also felt this 20 years ago. In the cauldron of Rio, the three-time Wimbledon winner struggled in the opening match to win a five-set game, then lost the doubles alongside Eric Jelen and, exhausted and unnerved, no longer competed on the final day. Markus Zoecke finally lost the third singles in a legendary Davis Cup match against the Brazilian Jaime Oncins after more than five hours in five sets. The German end was thus perfect.