Alexander Zverev wiped his long hair from his face and disappeared into the catacombs of the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. When he returned to the site of his Olympic victory, the Hamburg resident experienced one of the bitterest hours after his comeback at the beginning of the year. The 3:6, 4:6 in the first round against the rock-solid Australian Jordan Thompson also meant a setback on Zverev’s path to the season finale in Turin. “There is nothing I did well,” said Zverev, who had hoped for much more at the important stage of his career: “Today I played terribly. He played quite well and served quite well, but it was just a very, very bad match from me.” Zverev is still number seven in the “race” and he still has a lead over his pursuers. In order to actually take part in the tournament of the eight best of the season in Italy from November 13th, Zverev still has to collect points. After his opening defeat at the Masters in Shanghai ten days ago, he stumbled again in Tokyo – with a completely emotionless performance for a long time.
It was only towards the end of the second set that his disappointment broke out; Zverev shouted his frustration in Russian. Only: It didn’t help. “He probably wasn’t at his top level, but I also play unusual tennis,” said Thompson, number 60 in the world rankings, after his victory: “We all know what he has achieved in his career and what I have achieved, But I always go on the pitch and believe in my chance.” Zverev, on the other hand, wobbled. He missed three break points in the first game of the game and lost his serve shortly afterwards. In the second set, the 26-year-old quickly regained a 2-0 lead and conceded the decisive loss of serve to make it 4-5. After 1:35 hours the match was decided, also because Zverev could not rely on his otherwise strong serve. He only managed two aces and served three double faults.
Now Zverev has to hope that the competition will slip up. Taylor Fritz (USA), number nine in the “Race”, is in first place in Tokyo, while Casper Ruud (Norway), number ten, is in second place. Like Shanghai winner Hubert Hurkacz (Poland), they have the chance to put Zverev under pressure before the tennis tour returns to Europe. The German number one continues in Vienna, where Zverev triumphed like in Tokyo 2021. After that there may be a showdown at the Masters in Paris-Bercy. After the defeats in Shanghai and Tokyo, Zverev has to worry about his ticket to Turin until the end.
