With a bandaged knee, Alexander Zverev had everything under control for two sets in the Wimbledon round of 16. Then the German number one started to wobble and lost the endurance test.
Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev seemed resigned as he sat down and shook his head at the last change of ends. A short time later, his dream of a Wimbledon coup was abruptly over despite a 2-0 set lead against the American Taylor Fritz in the round of 16.
With a bandage on his knee, the great German hopeful failed with 6:4, 7:6 (7:4), 4:6, 6:7 (3:7), 3:6 and left the center court stage with his head bowed. His quarter-final debut at the important grass court Grand Slam tournament is once again canceled.
Alexander Zverev plays with pain
“Alex didn’t move so well in the fifth set. I wish him all the best,” said Fritz in the winner’s interview: “It was breathtaking to do that on Centre Court in Wimbledon in front of that crowd. It was like a dream. Considering I was 0-2 sets down, I still played very well.” Fritz now has a great chance of reaching the semifinals against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, which Zverev actually wanted to take.
For two sets, Zverev looked like the sure winner, but then the game turned. One month after his dramatic loss in the French Open final, the Hamburg native is leaving far too early for his standards and has to postpone his hunt for his first Grand Slam title. “He gave the impression that he wasn’t 100 percent fit,” said former Wimbledon winner Stich on Amazon Prime: “In the end, Taylor Fritz maintained his level and raised it. Alexander’s level dropped a tiny bit.”
Zverev increasingly on the defensive at the end
For two sets, Zverev was the better player, whenever it mattered. Because he played more consistently, he won the tiebreak and thus also the second set. Then Zverev let up, made more mistakes – and suffered his first loss of serve in the tournament with a double fault in the third set, making it 4:5.
His confidence was gone and Zverev seemed more shaky. At the beginning of the fourth set, the North German received a warning for taking too much time on his serve. The American got better and better and increasingly dominated the rallies.
Despite what he says is his new-found love for grass, the Wimbledon curse continues for him. The 2024 French Open finalist and 2020 US Open finalist always said goodbye to the Grand Slam tournament on grass in the round of 16 at the latest.
Source: Stern
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