The Chinese way of life seems to have done it to Alexander Zverev. Before his opening match at the ATP tournament of the 500er-Sere in Beijing, the world number five was in the best of spirits.
Whether it’s the recently won Laver Cup with “Team Europe” – or the anticipation of the final spurt of the season: Alexander Zverev visibly enjoys the days before his first match in the Chinese metropolis. With buddy and double specialist Marcelo Melo, his worst rival at Playstation, he went to Tai Chi – a kind of early sport in Asian – in Ditan Park.
“It was the first time I’ve tried this. The technique wasn’t there yet, but we’re learning fast,” Zverev said after the unit towards Melo. The Chinese Tai Chi master could only agree nodding.
The 21-year-old also cut a fine figure when handling the Longquan sword and eating traditional dishes with chopsticks.
The China Open, this time worth 4.658 million dollars, has actually quite positive memories for the second seeded Alexander Zverev. In 2017 he had failed in the semi-final against Nick Kyrgios (Australia), in the previous year in the round of the last eight against Spaniard David Ferrer.
In its opening match, the German number one will meet Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain) on Tuesday or Wednesday. The top seed is US Open finalist Juan Martin del Potro from Argentina.
Here is the single tableau from Beijing