Alexander Zverev is close to debuting in the Rome ATP, a tournament in which he hopes to improve his result from last year when he lost in the fourth round. The German has not had a profound path in Madrid either, so he needs to be filled with good victories in the Roman tournament ahead of Roland Garros. And the German was chatting with journalists about various topics, such as the long season schedule, and about his match against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros in 2022, a match from which he came out with that painful ankle sprain. Thus, Zverev spoke about the difficulty of playing against the Spaniard there.
– The season ends up being very long
“I’ve been on the circuit for 10 years and the conversation has always been about how we can shorten the season. Shortening the season is not just because we want to play tennis. No, we love it. It’s about how we can have time to prepare our bodies for the physical aspect of tennis and to recover. Alex de Minaur played the Davis Cup final on November 29 and his first ATP Cup match was on December 29, exactly one month passing. It is not enough time for the body to rest and to prepare physically. Fitness isn’t just about how much you train on the court, it’s also about how much work you put in in the gym. You have to do work on and off the track that cannot be done during the season. So it just gives us a four-week period of time to rest and prepare our body, something that no other sport has.”
– Two-week tournaments are not positive for the top 10
“The two-week Masters 1000 tournaments are great for players who are ranked between 50 and 100 because they have the opportunity to play in the main draw, but I think it is not good for the top 10. Yes, they tell you that You have an intermediate day, where you don’t have to play every day, but in the end that’s not resting. Resting is when you spend time at home, sleep in your bed or be with your family. A day between games if you are somewhere else is not resting. If you’re going far in tournaments like Jannik and Carlos, if you’re trying to get to the semi-finals or the final of each tournament, you spend a lot more time there and you have to work harder. It’s as simple as that”.
– His desire to play against Nadal again
“I have mixed feelings about that game, about playing against him, because it was one of the best games I have played in my career, but it was the worst ending I have ever had. His ball suddenly becomes a few miles per hour faster and also suddenly his footwork and his speed become much faster. It’s very difficult to hit a winner, especially on the Philippe Chatrier, which is a huge track. It’s probably the biggest challenge in tennis, facing Nadal on that court. “I would love to play against him one more time in a final or semi-final, in a great match.”
– What does it feel like to play against the Spaniard at Roland Garros?
“You feel like you can’t shake it off. I think the first set I played basically describes it perfectly. I’ve won that set against every other player I don’t know how many times and still ended up losing it in the tie break. He was up 6-2 and I think he hit me with his first ace in the entire match. He then hit one of the most ridiculous passings I have ever seen in my entire life and at 6-5 he also made a single point that he won when I was still in control of the score. You feel like you’re winning, but then somehow you end up not winning. That’s something you only feel against him on that specific track.”
2024-05-07 20:06:30
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