"Career over" - Zverev on first thought after Roland Garros injury
ATP
Alexander Zverev shared what were his first thoughts after his terrible injury at the 2022 Roland Garros.
Zverev is back on the tennis courts. He competed at the 2022 Diriyah Tennis Cup, which is an off-season exhibition held in Saudi Arabia. In his first match, he beat his good friend Dominic Thiem in two super tie-break sets, 10-8, 10-7.
After that, he played against another player he knows well, Daniil Medvedev, but he wasn't so successful. Zverev lost the match 0-6, 4-6, but he was certainly happy to be back on the tennis courts.
Only a few months ago, he thought his career could be over, as he revealed when speaking about the injury that he suffered at the 2022 Roland Garros.
When taking on Rafael Nadal in the semi-final of the tournament, Zverev misstepped and aggressively rolled his ankle over. At that point, he thought his career could be over.
"That was a bit difficult for me mentally. Because then I had to start again and was told that now I can't do anything for 6 weeks. That was not so nice and not so easy."
"But when the accident happened, the first thought was, 'Your career is over. What if something is broken that you can never come back from or will never come back from?'"
Eventually, Zverev was able to come back, but it wasn't without a setback on the way. He thought he would be able to play already at the Davis Cup, but bone edema stopped him.
"Definitely, I think there were a few of them. But the one was really when I thought I was healthy and when I thought I could come back in the Davis Cup."
"And the actual injury was also healed, but then I was told that the bones are not ready for the strain. Because I had extreme bone damage, had bone edema, and also a stress fracture in my bone at some point."
