Early end in Munich: Zverev apologizes after a rough bankruptcy

Early end in Munich
Zverev apologizes after a rough bankruptcy

Tennis professional Alexander Zverev is experiencing a bitter day in Munich: instead of collecting important points on the way to the declared goal – the top position in men’s tennis – there is a clear smack. The German missed the turning point in a complicated season.

Tennis player Alexander Zverev suffered the next setback on the way to his big goal number 1. The 25-year-old Olympic champion lost surprisingly clearly at the tournament in Munich against the Danish teenager Holger Rune (18) 3:6 2:6. In the first round, the Hamburg player had a bye as the top seed.

With tears in his eyes, Zverev judged himself harshly. He described his performance as “bottomless”. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the spectators, I’m sorry for the tournament,” he began the press conference. The German Olympic champion had no chance. He described the match as “the worst” in recent years.

Zverev had hoped for a turnaround in his previously untitled season in Munich. “At the end of the day, I often had the chance to be number one this year,” Zverev recently said to the Swiss newspaper “Blick” – and afterwards: “I know that I still have the chance. But of course I have to start to play my best tennis and also start winning tournaments.”

In Monte Carlo, the second most important clay court tournament on the tennis calendar after the French Open, Zverev was convincing at the beginning of April and had reached the semifinals after strong performances. There he lost to the later tournament winner Stefanos Tsitsipas. But against the number 70 in the world, he made too many simple mistakes from the start in Munich. In particular, the Dane’s short stop balls repeatedly caused Zverev big problems. After a little over 90 minutes, Rune used his second match point on the almost full Center Court.

Before Zverev, Daniel Altmaier from Kempen had already lost his round of 16 game. The 23-year-old lost 6-2, 6-4 to the seventh-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic. Oscar Otte is the last German in the traditional Munich tournament.

source site-33