Event at Wimbledon: After a dramatic bankruptcy, Zverev explains how his generation is doing
A very bitter package for the German tennis number one! With a bandage on his knee, Alexander Zverev had everything under control for two sets in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Then Zverev falls and Taylor loses Fritz. The game to read.
After a major failure, Zverev explains what his knees are really doing now
9:42 pm: Alexander Zverev has justified his departure from Wimbledon with a knee injury, but wants to be back in full swing before the Olympics. “I want to win Paris,” he said. He has “bone edema and pressure in his pelvis,” the world number four said after his round of 16 win over American Taylor Fritz at the Grand Slam tournament in London.
“My knee is quite swollen. But it’s nothing that’s really bad or that’s going to cause me to be out for a longer period of time,” Zverev explained. “Maybe it’s a week or two.” However, his Olympic debut does not appear to be in jeopardy. The Olympic Games will begin in France on July 26.
With a bandaged knee, lost the French Open final despite leading 2-0 against Fritz 6:4, 7:6 (7:4), 4:6, 6:7 (3:7), 3: 6 and it was over. On Saturday, Zverev slipped in the third round against Briton Cameron Norrie and then reported knee pain. Against Fritz, the 27-year-old wore a bandage on his left knee. He said he played with painkillers.
Zverev loses a five-set drama against Fritz
The most important thing about the game: For Alexander Zverev, the dream of a Wimbledon coup came to an abrupt end. With a bandaged knee, the best German player failed in the round of 16 despite leading 2-0 set 6:4, 7:6 (7:4), 4:6, 6:7 (3:7), 3: 6 against the American USA Taylor Fritz. This means that his first appearance in the quarter-finals at the important Grand Slam grass tournament has been canceled again.
For two sets, Zverev seemed the sure winner, but then the match ended. A month after his dramatic loss in the French Open final, the Hamburg native left far too soon for his needs and had to postpone his search for his first Grand Slam title.
After an unfortunate slip on the grass two days earlier, which left his left knee sore, Zverev played with a bandage. Against Cameron Norrie he hyperextended his knee when he ran to a set ball and wanted to change direction. It was hard to gauge from the steps how much this affected him.
For the task against the best opponent in the tournament so far, the fourth in the world ranking put a gray bandage over his left knee. He was also taped below, as was his older brother and manager Mischa Zverev after he hit the training pitches near the streaming service. Video Prime said. Zverev feels “good,” his brother said. “Anything can break, it will hurt. But: bite your teeth and get through it.” But in the end it wasn’t enough.
Zverev focused mainly on his service games at first. His opponent in the round of 16, who was a year younger, also served without compromise, so that the servers were in control. With the score at 4:4, Zverev decisively increased the pace from the baseline and secured the break to 5:4 with an aggressive return. The preliminary decision for sentence one.
Fritz recently played successfully and won the preparatory tournament in Eastbourne for the third time. In the world rankings, the Californian is in twelfth, but eight places behind Zverev. But Zverev became more relaxed for two sentences and waited for his chance. He managed to go to the net several times, which underlined his self-confidence at the moment.
“I really feel like I’ve been doing everything I can to be successful lately. Do everything you can to win a tournament like this at some point, hopefully,” said the Tokyo Olympic champion before the match, “then the result has to come to you alone and you don’t have to worry every day whether it comes or not. . “
For two sets, Zverev was the better player, always when it mattered. Because he acted more consistently, he won the tiebreak and thus the second round as well. Then Zverev let up, made more mistakes – and suffered the first loss of service in the tournament with a double fault, making it 4:5.
The dominance was gone, Zverev looked more shaky. At 2:2, the North German received a warning for taking too much time while serving. On the other hand, the Americans got better and better and were more ahead of the rallies. In the fourth set, Zverev had no chance.
The game was stress tested. Zverev had to work hard to get points and was becoming more defensive. The last remaining German hope in the singles could not come up with the break to make it 1:3 in the fifth set.
Despite his newly developed love of the green, the curse of Wimbledon persists. The French Open final from 2024 and the US Open final from 2020 always said goodbye to the Grand Slam competition on grass in the round of 16 at the latest.
— End of ticket —
Zverev is looking to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon
Alexander had a bit of a disturbing moment when he went over his knee in the third round match against Cameron Norrie. Zverev was able to continue playing and won in three sets (with the monster tiebreak 15:13 in the third set), but the pain remained.
In the subsequent press conference, the Hamburg resident continued to report pain. Zverev did not rule out anything more serious as he was able to continue playing, albeit with restrictions. “I felt it during some moves. But if you tear a ligament or your meniscus, I don’t think you can continue to play like I did.”
In general, Zverev is happy with his form, especially after his ankle injury in 2022. “I wasn’t sure at the time if I would go back to that level”. maybe one point away from the final, one set away from winning the French Open. I am working on making this dream come true.”
Zverev and Fritz “very different” apart from the serve
So far, Zverev has kept himself unscathed at Wimbledon, now the real assessment is with Eastbourne winner Taylor Fritz.
Apart from the serve, they are very different, Zverev says, “he can really hit the ball”. In terms of movement, Zverev thought I was the best, although at times it was better to be more aggressive.
Fritz found the similarities more so that Zverev liked to have a little more time and had a better and faster backhand. According to Fritz, he uses his forehand more as a weapon – Zverev gets more spin, he gets more speed. “At the end of the day we’re playing on grass and it’s going to come and go.”
As a direct comparison, Zverev leads with 5 to 3 wins against Fritz. The two have already played against each other twice at Wimbledon: in 2018, Zverev won in five sets 6:4, 5:7, 6:7 (0), 6:1, 6:2, and in 2021 in four rows 6. :7 (3), 6:4, 6:3, 7:6 (4).
More sports news
Germany are out of the European Championships, Spain’s Mikel Merino breaks our hearts in extra time. When the game is over, the ARD commentator does the worst thing he could do. And it won’t stop.
Dear France! The Equipe Tricolore’s title dreams were dashed against Spain. You won’t miss France’s minimal, effective players that much. The three experts will most likely be from the ZDF European Championship Arena.
The original version of this article comes from “After dramatic bankruptcy, Zverev explains what his knees are really doing”. tennisnet.com.
tennisnet.com