Alexander Zverev revealed that he dealt with an injury in the 2024 Italian Open semi-final, which was a complicated match for him.
Nobody expected Alejandro Tabilo to find himself in the Italian Open semi-final, but the Chilean got there thanks to some superb performances. He bested Novak Djokovic earlier in the event and followed that up with some really good showings to make the semi-final of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
After all, beating Zverev 6-1 in the opening set was signal enough that he wasn't there by chance. The German remained steadfast, though, and won a complicated second set before besting a visibly erratic Tabilo in the third set.
The match was complicated because Zverev wasn't playing well to start and also dealt with an injury that obviously affected his play. He injured himself during a fall in his previous match in Rome, but he was able to continue.
"Yeah, my finger's pretty big. I think I tore a capsule, from what I understood. The one here. Don't ask me. I tore something. I don't know what it is. But I didn't break any bones, which is good. I did the x-ray yesterday."
The third seed admitted that most of the problems came from pain, which was taken care of with painkillers.
"Yeah, my bones are fine. That's why I could play today. I managed the pain with pain killers, all of that. The finger is still very, very big. It was manageable. Obviously I'm happy that I could manage today."
It's not an issue that will go away on its own and the German player will certainly have to manage it in the final as well. The most important will be how he feels at the Roland Garros and whether it will fully heal until then.
But based on his performance, it didn't bother him too much outside of the pain, which can be managed with painkillers.