Alexander Zverev did not categorically blame the tournament's scheduling but stated that he was far from his peak physical level during his third-round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The German tennis star was ousted in straight sets by the Greek despite his best efforts in a closely contested match that lasted almost two hours. Zverev finished the match with 28 winners to just nine unforced errors and did not fire a single double fault.
But those numbers were not enough to secure him the win against a rejuvenated Tsitsipas who played with swagger and composure to win the first set in a tiebreak and garner the lone break of the second set early on en route to victory and a place in the quarterfinal of the Paris Masters.
Zverev was on the court for his third-round match less than 17 hours after his marathon win over home player Ugo Humbert the previous night. He bested the Frenchman after three and half hours of high-octane tennis, with the match finishing at 9:56 pm local time.
With a host of players and pundits blasting the tournament for its absurd scheduling, particularly on Wednesday, when fans were made to wait for over two hours outside the premises before the start of the night session. Jannik Sinner's match finished in the early hours of Thursday, prompting him to pull out from the event due to fatigue.
Zverev's comments after his exit contrasted those of his peers, stating that he "understands" the schedule because his and other players' matches lasted the full three sets prior to the third round, including his first-round match in doubles on Tuesday.
"I’m dead. I think you could see that on the court. Well I think it’s not up to me because there were also two other guys who finished even later so I understand the scheduling."
"It’s not that but I played a lot, I played three sets the first day then another three sets of doubles the same day. Then three hours 40 yesterday so it’s not ideal preparation to play against someone like Tsitsipas."
Zverev is no longer in control of his destiny for a spot at the ATP Finals and can only watch with his fingers crossed. Although he sits in one of the qualification spots in seventh, he could be overtaken by both Holger Rune and Hubert Hurkacz, who are still in the tournament.
"I did everything I could I think, especially the last four, five months. So I’m proud to be in the position that I am to be honest because four, five months ago I was nowhere near that. Of course, I’ll be watching now.
0 Comments