It’s amazing how Alexander Zverev tackled the first days of the grass classic at the All England Club. The two victories against outsiders Gijs Brouwer and Yosuke Watanuki were to be expected, even if the man from Hamburg makes no secret of the fact that grass is his “worst surface”.
But it always got strange when Zverev talked about the tournament and his opponents.
Before his arrival, the Olympic champion pointed out that at 1.98 meters he was too tall to succeed on grass. Nevertheless, he does not travel to Wimbledon “like a Kasper”. Of course he takes the third Grand Slam tournament of the season seriously.
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The draw wanted him to meet Dutchman Brouwer in round one – and again Zverev was mercilessly honest. “If he were in the room – I wouldn’t know who it is,” said the 26-year-old frankly. Then the long wait began.
Zverev out of the queue for a three-set win
Rain and game postponements ensured that the match scheduled for Tuesday finally took place on Thursday. When Zverev played the first ball, defending champion Novak Djokovic was already in round three. In terms of sport, the German easily put away the chaos and solved the task against Brouwer in three sets.
Zverev was back in action less than 24 hours, the opponent’s name was Watanuki. As number 116 in the world rankings, the Japanese is 37 places higher than Brouwer, but Germany’s number one couldn’t really get started with Watanuki either.
The difference: this time the ignorance hurt so much that Zverev had to give up the second set. A mishap that he blamed on his team.
Zverev publicly criticizes his own team
“I had a bit of a neck on my box,” admitted Germany’s number one. “Everyone leaned back a bit”, he would have lacked information about the Japanese’s playing style. “When four aces rushed past him at a speed of 320”, he was amazed.
“He deservedly won the second set and felt like he was the better player for the whole set,” admitted Zverev fairly after the 6: 4, 5: 7, 6: 2, 6: 2. However, the public criticism of his entourage should still be a topic of conversation internally. Zverev also had a need to speak during the game. After communicating loudly with his box, chair umpire Jaume Campistol gave him a warning. A line judge had informed the referee, which the tennis star did not like at all.
Zverev annoying warning: “Always happens in Wimbledon”
“I spoke to my box and she thought she had to tell the referee what I said. I didn’t insult anyone, I just talked about myself,” Zverev explained the incident in the “Sky” interview. “It annoys me a bit, because that only happens at Wimbledon. They obviously have the feeling that they want to do more than they should.”
There was no reason for the linesman to take action. He did use a swear word and “once the F-word”, but not in relation to others, according to Zverev, who was able to smile again. You are in the All England Club “on sacred grass, there are other rules”.
On this special green, the 26-year-old will continue on Saturday against Matteo Berrettini (live in the ticker from around 7:00 p.m.), one of “the best lawn players of recent years”, as Zverev emphasized. This fulfills a prophecy that he made after the opening match.
Schett exclusively: “Nobody talks about Zverev – an advantage!”
“I’ll probably play again tomorrow, and the day after that too,” Zverev announced after the Brouwer game, before slowing down and dutifully pushing himself: “Well, if I win, of course. But in my head I do it.”
Berrettini in front of the chest, Alcaraz in the head
Brother Mischa hinted at “Sky” that the view even goes as far as the round of 16. “If I have to play against Alcaraz in the fourth round, of course I want to be fit and fresh and not have played three matches in a row in the three days before,” said the 35-year-old, describing the younger man’s world of thoughts.
This is remarkable in that Zverev always made it clear that he would only focus on the next match and not calculate several games in advance.
At this Wimbledon tournament, the world number 21 seems to be however, having decided to do many things differently. His success (so far) proves him right. And one problem will definitely not arise in the 3rd round: there is no danger that the opponent will not tell him anything at all.
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2023-07-07 21:26:00
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