FAlexander Zverev had little time for the beautiful view over the Outer Alster from the ninth floor of a noble hotel. It was only a short visit to his hometown on Thursday afternoon before the best German tennis player floated back home to Monte Carlo: “I have to go back to the court.”
The fact that he is there again surprises him and the doctors themselves after his serious injury in early June: “Three ligaments in his ankle were completely torn, four others were injured. That was brutal. I’m really good for that. It’s nice to see how my body is healing after two and a half months – and that it didn’t take five or six months.” Zverev twisted his ankle in Paris in the semifinals of the French Open against Rafael Nadal.
Zverev “has pushed the whole thing enormously”
So far recovered, he left no doubts about his participation in the Davis Cup in Hamburg in mid-September. “There’s no question that I’ll be there,” said Zverev, “I don’t want to miss out on playing for Germany in Germany. As a team, we definitely want to go to the finals in Spain.” In the new Davis Cup format, the DTB selection will play against France, Belgium and Australia on September 14, 16 and 18 at Rothenbaum – in Hamburg for the first time on a hard court, for which the traditional red ash has to give way to.
The Germans, centered around Zverev and the doubles Krawietz/Mies, need to finish first or second in the group to reach the finals, starting with the quarter-finals, in Malaga from November 21-27. “With the best cast, we can even win the Davis Cup,” said Zverev. With victories in both of his individual matches at the qualifying match in Brazil in March, he made a decisive contribution to the DTB selection making it through to the next round.
Association President Dietloff von Arnim thanked him for this and said: “It pushed the whole thing enormously that Sascha agreed to play Davis Cup.” It was clear at the beginning of the year that the DTB would only apply with Hamburg as the venue, should Zverev play along.
With him and against strong and well-known opponents, the association and the city of Hamburg are hoping for sold-out ranks – 10,000 fans will find space, the game will be played under a closed roof, which seemed a bit strange on Thursday at 28 degrees in the morning, but Zverev encouraged: ” I clearly expect a home advantage thanks to a better atmosphere under a closed roof. ”The fact that Zverev, as Olympic champion in Tokyo 2021 and second in the world rankings, will fill the Rothenbaum is considered agreed.
Because the healing process in the foot is so good, he even has vague hopes of being able to compete at the US Open, which begins on August 29th. “I don’t want to cancel it just yet. I was on the tennis court two months after my surgery. I notice how it gets better every day. I’ll know more in ten days and will then decide whether to start at the US Open. It will definitely be very, very close, but I’m not giving up yet,” said Zverev, who lost to Austrian Dominic Thiem in the New York final in 2020.
Before Alexander Zverev went back to his adopted country, he patiently answered questions about his diabetes 1 disease, which he had had since he was four years old and which was made public at the weekend. “I have them under control even in long matches,” said the 25-year-old tennis pro. “I wanted to tell my story to encourage affected children and their parents that a lot can be achieved with this disease.”
