Alexander Zverev coughed loudly into his left fist. Even during the warm-up in the afternoon heat of New York, the Olympic champion’s mysterious health problems had not been completely overcome shortly before the start of the US Open. Nevertheless, the 2020 finalist feels ready for another attempt at his longed-for first Grand Slam triumph.
“I have the feeling that if I can play my best tennis and I’m 100 percent myself, I’ll get my chances,” said Zverev about his expectations for the tournament before the German duel with Davis Cup colleague Maximilian Marterer on Monday. “I still have a cough, but otherwise I’m fine.”
Alexander Zverev struggled with physical problems at the Olympics.
Things looked very different recently. At the Paris Summer Games, Zverev was knocked out in the quarterfinals, complaining of dizziness and reporting that he had seen four balls at times. He was also in poor health when he was knocked out in Montreal, coughing loudly. According to Zverev, blood tests did not provide any clarity about the cause of his symptoms.
“I have no idea what it is. Some of my values were very, very low and my body was on empty,” said the world number four. “I wasn’t sick, it wasn’t corona, I was very, very exhausted, very tired.”
Most recently, however, his form curve showed a clear improvement after his narrow semi-final loss to Italian Jannik Sinner at the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. But time and again in his career, Zverev has been slowed down by his own body in his quest for his first title at one of the four biggest tournaments. This has happened several times since his return from a serious ankle injury in the summer of 2022.
Last year he injured his thigh before the semi-final of the French Open against Casper Ruud from Norway. At the US Open, after a previously exhausting performance, he also suffered a muscle injury in the quarter-final against the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and had no chance. At the Australian Open at the beginning of this season, Zverev developed a fever before the semi-final against Daniil Medvedev from Russia.
His second appearance in the final of a Grand Slam tournament ended in Paris this summer with a five-set defeat against the 21-year-old Alcaraz. Will Zverev remain unfinished in the face of the increasingly strong next generation?
At least two legends believe that the gold winner of the Tokyo Summer Games can pull off a major coup over three sets. “He has the game to win a Grand Slam tournament,” said Swede Björn Borg (68), himself a winner on eleven occasions, to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. “He has become mentally stronger, has more self-confidence. He can win on any surface.”
And US icon John McEnroe also raves about the currently best German tennis professional. “I’m particularly impressed by his serve,” said the 65-year-old. “I’ve never seen a guy who serves as strongly as he does and has such strong groundstrokes.”
Zverev proved this to the cheers of the young fans with spectacular points during training against the Russian Karen Khachanov on Children’s Day at the US Open. There he wants to turn the narrowly missed opportunities of the past Grand Slams into motivation: “The things that I experienced this year are in the back of my mind,” said Zverev, “but as positive things. Because I feel like I’m very, very close.”
