Alexander Zverev has great goals in the turf Mecca It doesn’t have to be this year, but at some point the gifted player wants to win the title in Wimbledon. First of all, however, “Sascha” and his big brother Mischa, who won his first ATP tournament in Eastbourne, were looking forward to grass.
By Ulrike Weinrich from Wimbledon
In the fight against oneself, the inner voice finally gained the upper hand over emotions. Alexander Zverev would have loved to have supported his almost ten years older brother Mischa at his final in Eastbourne.
“I was wondering if I should go. It’s only a two-hour drive from here,” said the third in the world rankings as he sat in the interview room of the All England Lawn Tennis Club on Saturday afternoon, where even the Wimbledon logo is illuminated. At the complex on the famous Church Road everything somehow has a special radiance. Not only because the British midsummer is currently showing its best side with temperatures of up to 28 degrees Celsius and a cloudless sky.
I didn’t want to disturb his rhythm and I didn’t want him to feel any extra pressure,” Alexander Zverev explained: “Mischa should just finish the tournament in peace.
He did it – and how he did it. The older Zverev brother won 6-4, 6-4 against the Slovak Lukas Lacko and had tears of happiness in his eyes after his premiere title on the tour.
Alexander Zverev can be credited for keeping the date of his All Access Hour, as the press conferences with the top players were called before the tournament began. Unlike the great Serena Williams, who preferred to march to polo with her friend Megan Markle, Prince Harry’s newly wed wife, and let her 3:00 p.m. question-and-answer session burst shortly before the start. Disrespectful!
Mischa Zverev had just reached the end of the second set in Eastbourne when the PK took place – and “Sascha” asked the writers: “How’s it going?
The nervousness was noticeable to Alexander Zverev. At least when it came to Misha. When he himself became the topic and his expectations and dreams were at stake, the Wahl-Monegasse spoke carefully, calmly – and coolly calculating. “My goal,” Zverev revealed, “is to win this tournament here at some point. Whether it’s this year, next year, or in a few years.” After all, he is not someone who says “the quarter-finals or the semi-finals” are good enough.
Open, honest words. Presented without any form of verbal actionism and impatience – but with the deepest conviction in his voice that one day he will succeed in following in the footsteps of Boris Becker and Michael Stich at the most important tournament in the world. Knowing that the Wimbledon coup makes even a little more immortal than successes in Melbourne, Paris or New York.
The conditions seem to be quite good already this year. Alexander Zverev has clearly matured. In addition, his 4.5-centimeter-long muscle tear in his left thigh, which had hindered him in the quarter-finals of the French Open against his buddy Dominic Thiem, has completely healed. An MRI survey in London confirmed this.
“I’m looking forward to the tournament, everybody is. It is Wimbledon,” stressed “Sascha” Zverev, who said he has trained “very well” in the past few days. At the show fight event “The Boodles” the native of Hamburg also left a sovereign impression in the match against the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Zverev will play Australian James Duckworth in his first round game on Tuesday, who is currently only 752nd in the world rankings. “I won my first Challenger match against him,” he reported, who did not have any special tactics for the ultimate traditional tennis event: “I quickly get used to new surfaces. I’ll try to serve well. It’s not a big tactic.”
Last year, the Davis Cup player failed Milos Raonic (Canada) in his first Grand Slam round of 16 to date. In May he was in the last eight at the French Open. Peu a peu progresses with Alexander Zverev. “It’s only a matter of time before he wins his first major,” Swedish master Mats Wilander recently said again.
Zverev will have shrugged his shoulders. The 1.98 m slag doesn’t get out of control that quickly. At the most, the fight against oneself – in which the inner voice already gains the upper hand over emotions.