Alexander Zverev cleaned up and showed confidence before the start of his mission to defend his title at the ATP tournament in Washington. Wimbledon’s third round defeat seems to have put third in the world rankings behind them.
Alexander Zverev has often laughed at the press conference before his first match at the ATP-500 event in the U.S. capital. He has every reason to be. The 21-year-old feels at home in Washington. There, where he reached the quarter-finals at his premiere in 2015 – and then won the title two years later.
But if he compares himself to the 2017 pro, Zverev sees a mature “Sascha”. “I think I’m a better player than last year. I feel better prepared and physically stronger. And from a tennis-specific point of view, I think I’ve improved things,” said the top seed at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center, adding: “But there are always areas where you can develop until the end of your career. It is important to work just as intensively on one’s own “weapons” as on one’s weaknesses.
Most recently, Zverev, who will meet Malek Jaziri (Tunisia) late on Tuesday evening, prepared for the upcoming North American hard court season at the Saddlebrook Tennis Academy near Tampa/Florida, culminating in the US Open on August 27. Among others with Ivan Lendl – what a photo proved. Statements on the intensity of the alleged cooperation did not appear at first. In the subtropical climate, the 1.98 m hump also improved its athletics.
Until the last Grand Slam of the year in New York Zverev has to defend 1510 points in three tournaments. Consequences of his coups last summer. After Washington, he had also won the Masters in Montreal in 2017 – with an impressive performance in the final against Swiss superstar Roger Federer (6-3, 6-4). It was a further milestone in the young but already extremely impressive career of the Monegassen-by-choice.
Zverev can now also accept a little better that there are and will be setbacks every now and then. Whatever their nature. In the third round of Wimbledon at the beginning of July, he surprisingly lost to Ernests Gulbis.
The decisive set went to the Latvians 6:0. Some reminiscent of Zverev’s 6-0 maximum penalty in the fifth round of the 2018 Australian Open against Hyeon Chung (South Korea). But in London, the Hamburg native had to struggle with the consequences of a gastrointestinal virus.
Zverev has already won the titles in Madrid and Munich this season. He has won 36 matches (with eleven defeats) since January. Only his Austrian buddy Dominic Thiem (38:12 successes), who is starting this week at the clay court classic in Kitzbühel, is even better in this statistic.
Alexander Zverev also has to tremble a bit in the first days of the Citi Open in D.C. In the round of 16 there could be a feared duel with his brother Mischa (No. 15). The left-handed player will play Tim Smyczek from the USA in his first match. In the main field of an ATP event there has never been a Zverev comparison…