In his first match at the 26th GERRY WEBER OPEN he is challenged by Croatian Borna Coric (ATP 36). But Alexander Zverev (ATP 3) can go into this possibly most exciting opening match with much self confidence and in "good form": "I trained properly for the first time today and it was ok. I'm happy to be able to play in the tournament“, the new German tennis superstar said in a press interview on Sunday ahead of the tournament start.
The 21 year old from Hamburg had injured his left hamstring during his match against Dominic Thiem at the French Open in the Quarter Finals, the 4.5 cm long fracture had healed much faster than expected: "Normally an injury of this kind takes about four weeks to heal, but it took nine days", Zverev stated, "at first I feared not being able to play Halle and Wimbledon at all." Zverev is expecting "a really difficult match" against Coric: "We know eachother well, there will be no surprises"
Similar to his friend, the Austrian Thiem, Zverev too has big expectations considering his good performances in the last months: "At 18 you're glad to win a Semi Final at a smaller ATP Tournament. But today one wants to win the big tournaments against the best players. That's a fact." Zverev belongs to the top group of the ATP professionals in the last one and ahalf years: He won five competitions in 2017, amoungst others the Masters Tournaments in Rom and Montreal. And in 2018 he won in Munich and Madrid.
And at the GERRY WEBER OPEN Zverev has only little more to win. He got to the finals in the last two years, losing to record-holding champion Roger Federer in 2017. "It would be nice to see that duel again“, Zverev said. And, what do you have to do to beat the Maestro on his much loved tennis lawn? "Play better than him" Zverev joked, but then added: "it's important to play even faster than him. Because that's what Roger doesn't like that much. But he usually goes into a tournament as favourite."
Just like all the other players Zverev has to adjust from clay to grass: "These are two worlds. First the slowest surface of the year, then the fastest of the year. You really need a bit of time to get into a good rhythm.“ The most difficult thing about the change for Alexander Zverev is a completely different thing: "On this surface I lose more often to my brother Mischa.“
