Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has passed his first endurance test and sees himself well on the way back to his old strength after the first games on the tennis tour after a seven-month injury break.
At the Diriyah Tennis Cup in Saudi Arabia, the 25-year-old had won singles against Austrian Dominic Thiem and lost against Daniil Medvedev from Russia 0: 6, 4: 6 and in doubles with Thiem against Matteo Berrettini (Italy) and Andrey Rublev ( Russia) with 3: 6, 6: 7 (3: 7) was the short straw.
“I was happy to be able to keep up at this level and play with Daniil,” said Zverev.
The second set against Medvedev in particular gives him courage. He was satisfied with the level and also with how he moved. “It shows that I’m on the right track. I know there’s still a long way to go,” said the man from Hamburg.
Zverev is looking for match practice for the Australian Open
The show event was Zverev’s first official appearance since the semifinals at the French Open, when he sustained a serious foot injury against Spanish top star Rafael Nadal in Paris in early June.
The games showed him “what level I am at and it showed me that my foot is healthy enough to be able to compete with these guys”. Even if he still has a lot of work ahead of him, he is confident.
“In general, I’m happy with how it went. I’m looking forward to moving forward and looking forward to what lies ahead,” said the Tokyo Olympic champion.
From December 19th to 24th, Zverev wants to gather more match practice for participation in the Australian Open at the World Tennis League in Dubai. At the turn of the year, the top German player will be in the United Cup in Australia, where he will play in a team with Germany’s currently best player, Jule Niemeier, among others.
The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the new season, starts on January 16th.
