Newsletter

Alexander Zverev is booed at Davis Cup in Brazil

WITH12 national teams won their Davis Cup matches this weekend and qualified for the group stage. But only eleven teams cheered wildly after the decisive match point, celebrated the last victorious player on the tennis court, waved the national flag and waved happily to the audience.

The big exception was the German Davis Cup team, also emotionally led by its top player Alexander Zverev. Unlike his colleagues, the man from Hamburg didn’t want to make a good face about the bad mood in the Olympic tennis stadium in Rio de Janeiro. As a reason, he said: “The viewers have crossed a line.”

Knowledge has never been more valuable

Read F+ now for two months free of charge and get access to all articles on FAZ.NET.

READ F+ NOW

After Zverev had won his singles against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro and contributed his second point to the 3-1 overall success, he politely shook hands with opponents, the referee and his dear colleagues, but then packed his things and left. It was nothing with a party on the square. Only later in the night, when the stadium was long empty and dark, did the German players pose for a souvenir photo with a smile and the national flag and then celebrate among themselves in a Portuguese restaurant.

No one blamed him for the fact that Zverev refused public joy on Saturday. The Brazilians had tried everything for two days to make life as difficult as possible for the German team. The fact that the temporarily prepared sand court was bumpy and bouncing balls sometimes made the tennis pros look like amateurs was a challenge for everyone involved and the least evil for Zverev and colleagues.

insults from the ranks

It was worse for the spectators, who let their horns shrill at inappropriate moments, interrupted the Germans’ serves with heckling and did everything else to drive the Germans mad. “The switch to sand, the loud Brazilian fans and the space conditions didn’t upset us,” said Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann. This team performance, to which Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz contributed a win in doubles, should not be underestimated.

Zverev, whom the Brazilian fans were particularly fond of, passed Rio’s nerve test with flying colours. In his opening match on Friday against Thiago Seyboth Wild (6: 4, 6: 2), the third in the world rankings was neither irritated by external provocations nor by his mixed performance. The next day, Zverev won against Monteiro in a convincing manner (6: 1, 7: 5), above all he stayed cool and focused until the end. To say goodbye, he then showed ice coldness. He constantly had to listen to insults from the audience, said the 24-year-old. He can live with rejection to a certain extent: “But if it’s against your family or against someone you love, then a line is crossed.”

Alexander Zverev defeated Thiago Monteiro at the Olympic Arena Tennis Park in Rio de Janeiro.


Alexander Zverev defeated Thiago Monteiro at the Olympic Arena Tennis Park in Rio de Janeiro.
:


Image: EPA

In Rio, Zverev got more than an idea of ​​how much his freak out in Acapulco the week before last would accompany him. The incident in Mexico, when Zverev hit the referee’s chair several times after a lost double and almost caught the referee on the foot, is far from over with Zverev’s apology, disqualification and a fine of around 70,000 dollars (equivalent to around 64,000 euros).

Averse fans will remind him of this at every opportunity, and Zverev’s behavior also meets with resistance within the tennis scene. Former champions and current television experts Mats Wilander and Patrick McEnroe believe the penalty is too light. In her view, Zverev should be banned from all tournaments for three to six months and have to rehabilitate himself. Across from the television channel CNN, Serena Williams spoke outraged and spoke of “double standards”: “I would probably have gone to jail if I had done that,” said the American, who received higher penalties for previous freaks and temporarily played on probation .

Alexander Zverev would probably be welcomed in the friendliest way in his home country. In any case, it is quite possible that Germany will be one of the four hosts of the Davis Cup group phase in mid-September. “That would be a huge highlight for us,” said Kohlmann about the possible application of the German Tennis Association. For Zverev, who ignored the Davis Cup for three years, it would be a dilemma: on the one hand he rejects the new format, on the other hand he dreams of home games with the team.

Perhaps Rio’s state of emergency motivated him to continue playing against all odds in this Davis Cup year: “For me personally, it was probably the best week this year on the pitch.” In the coming days at the Masters tournament in Indian Wells he has to prove himself again alone against everyone.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending