After his ligament tears in the French Open semifinals, the German hasn’t given up hope of starting in the Grand Slam at the end of August – even though he hasn’t even started rehab yet.
Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev believes in a chance of a US Open start after his serious injury in the semifinals of the French Open. “I don’t know whether it will be the US Open, because I have to play one or two tournaments before that,” said the Hamburger der picture on sunday. “I haven’t checked off New York yet.”
Zverev twisted his ankle in Paris in the match against Rafael Nadal at the end of the second set and suffered torn ligaments in his foot. “I was lucky in the accident and didn’t suffer any bone damage. That’s what the doctors thought at first,” he said. Zverev had been pushed off the court in a wheelchair, and later he hobbled on crutches.
He “won’t be someone who plays immediately when he’s ready for it the first second. If I play the US Open (tournament starts on August 29, editor’s note), then not for one or two rounds, but to win them. I won’t come back until I’m in that shape.”
The 25-year-old is currently doomed to inactivity. “I don’t do much, I lie on the bed with my dogs, but I also go to the gym twice a day,” said the second in the world rankings. “I’m still wearing a cast and splints. But I’m trying to keep my upper body fit. I don’t get any painkillers like I did after the accident.”
He will only start rehab in “two or three weeks”. Zverev is currently wearing a splint: “It’s heavy and annoying at night. Two or three kilos on your feet are bad for sleeping. I’m relatively thin, so it’s a little tight everywhere.” The pain immediately after twisting was “madness”: “As if someone shoots me in the foot.”
