Is the tension now coming to an end? Alexander Zverev has been looking forward to his first round showdown against Rafael Nadal for days. After the victory, he wants to keep his concentration high. The title is the goal.
Tennis star Alexander Zverev is facing a kind of fresh start after his “emotionally unbelievably difficult” opening victory at the French Open against Spanish record champion Rafael Nadal. “I prepared for the match as if it were a final. Now I feel like a new tournament is starting,” said the 27-year-old: “I know that there are still many great players waiting for me and I have to concentrate on that.”
In the second round in Paris, Zverev will face the winner of the duel between Belgian David Goffin and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard from France. But in the form with which Zverev defeated 14-time French Open winner Nadal in straight sets in his “living room” Court Philippe Chatrier, the world number four is one of the absolute title contenders. “I think I can praise myself a little today and say that I played well,” said the Hamburg native.
He would love to play against Nadal on clay again at the Olympics in Paris – “but in the final,” as the Tokyo Olympic champion smiled and said: “I don’t feel like playing in the first round anymore, that was enough for me.” The first-round showdown against the Spanish clay court king was definitely one of the “most special matches” of his career, “both in terms of the atmosphere and the occasion.”
Source: Stern
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