United Cup: Zverev leads German tennis team to quarter-finals

Alexander Zverev went into raptures. After reaching the quarter-finals of the United Cup, the world number two spoke about the team spirit in the German tennis team and aimed for a successful defense of the title. “We do something together every day,” said the 27-year-old about the special feature of the team competition. “The support from the bank is incredible. We want to continue riding the wave from last year.”

Zverev led the German team to victory in the group and into the first knockout round in a 2-1 win over China. In the singles, he showed an improvement in his performance after losing the first set against the Chinese outsider Zhang Zhizhen and in the end he won confidently 2:6, 6:0, 6:2. The jump to the quarter-finals was already perfect, on New Year’s Day we will face Kazakhstan, who are also still unbeaten.

Strong performance in mixed doubles

Laura Siegemund lost in her singles match to Gao Xinyu 1:6, 6:3, 3:6. In the final mixed doubles, Zverev and Siegemund showed a top performance with 6:2, 7:6 (7:3) against Zhang Zhizhen and Zhang Shuai, especially in the first round. “It was a great match. We made it look easier than it was,” said Siegemund. “We are happy to be in the quarterfinals,” said Zverev. At the start, the German selection won 3-0 against Brazil.

For many tennis professionals, the United Cup is the start of the new season and at the same time an important preparation for the Australian Open, which begins in mid-January 2025.

In the singles, Zverev initially got off to a weak start and immediately lost his serve. Although the Hamburger served at a high rate, he made too many simple mistakes in the rallies. Zhang took advantage of this and took the first set after just 32 minutes.

The world number 45. but could not maintain his high level. Now Zverev was directly ahead with a break and didn’t let a strange break stop him. When the electronic line system failed for more than ten minutes, the world number two studied the statistics of the surprisingly clear loss in the first set.

Zverev “happy” with his performance in the end

“It was a long wait at a very important moment. I looked at the statistics and got an idea of ​​what I did wrong. That helped me,” said Zverev about the phase when the score was 2-0 in the second half. when both professionals had to sit idle on the bench due to technical problems. “After that I found my rhythm, my game was more aggressive, more fluid. I’m happy with my performance in sets two and three.”

First set gone after about half an hour

After the technical problems were overcome, he dominated against the mixed silver medalist from the Olympics in Paris. In the third set, Zverev managed the decisive break to make it 4-2 and didn’t give up another game after that.