The German world number three went to the pool table after twisting his ankle on clay in Paris. The duration of his unavailability is unknown but he should at least miss Wimbledon at the end of the month.
“I will do everything to come back stronger than ever!”, Alexander Zverev announced on Tuesday evening that he had surgery for torn ligaments in his right ankle after his painful exit from the Roland-Garros semi-finals. The German world number three suffered a serious injury in the game against Rafael Nadal last week, screaming in pain before retiring.
The 25-year-old hasn’t said when he’ll be back on court, but he’s likely to miss Wimbledon, which starts on June 27, or even the US Open from August 29.
Thumb up
“Next week I will reach a career high of world number two, but this morning I had to have surgery. After further examination in Germany, we have received confirmation that the three lateral ligaments of my ankle right were torn”Zverev wrote to his 1.8 million followers on Instagram on Tuesday night alongside a photo of him giving a thumbs up from a hospital bed. We all have our own journey in life. It’s part of mine.”
“To return to competition as quickly as possible, to ensure the proper healing of all the ligaments and to regain total stability of my ankle, surgery was the best choice”, he said. With five Masters trophies and two ATP finals, Zverev is still waiting for a first Grand Slam title.
Roland-Garros last week was his fifth major semi-final. He lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem, after leading by two sets. “My rehabilitation starts now and I will do everything to come back stronger than ever!”he promised.