Alexander Zverev is a big football fan. But he missed Germany’s second European Championship game. The Olympic tennis champion cannot understand this.
While most Germans will be watching the DFB team’s second preliminary round match against Hungary on Wednesday, Alexander Zverev will have to go to the tennis court. To the surprise of many, the organizers of the tournament in Halle, Westphalia, scheduled the Olympic tennis champion’s round of 16 match against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego at the same time as the German national football team’s second appearance at the home European Championships.
“That was definitely not my wish,” said Zverev on Tuesday evening after his first-round victory against Oscar Otte. “But I don’t decide. If I did decide, I would do it differently. To be honest, I don’t think it was a smart move by the tournament,” said the world number four, who is himself a big football fan. “If I wasn’t playing, I wouldn’t watch a tennis match either, I would watch football.”
Organizer provides reason
The organizers justified the planning by saying that all other players whose matches are scheduled on the center court had completed their first round earlier than Zverev and were therefore also scheduled earlier. “In addition, Zverev only finished his match on Tuesday at around 7 p.m. and should be given as adequate a recovery period as possible,” they said in response to a dpa query.
The Zverev match is the fourth encounter of the day in the OWL Arena. Jan-Lennard Struff, Dominik Koepfer and the Russian Daniil Medvedev will play before that. Only then will it be Zverev’s turn.
Curiously, the organizers are advertising that there will be a public viewing of Germany vs. Hungary behind the arena from 6 p.m. – exactly when Zverev, the event’s star player, will be in action.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
