It doesn’t get any easier…
Haas warns: “Zverev has to flip the switch now”
05/10/2023 8:29 p.m
After his serious foot injury from the French Open semi-finals in 2022, Alexander Zverev is still fighting hard to return to his old class. Tommy Haas, formerly number two in the tennis world, now sees crucial weeks ahead of his successor as a top German player.
Former world-class tennis player Tommy Haas has stressed the importance of the coming weeks for struggling Olympic champion Alexander Zverev. The ups and downs of the 26-year-old are normal after a serious injury. “But at some point he has to flip the switch. He has to defend points for the next three or four weeks. Otherwise he will fall out of the top 30, 40 or 50 in the world. Then strong opponents threaten early in the tournaments. This is the situation new for him,” said Haas of “Sport Bild”. At the current Masters tournament in Rome and the French Open, Zverev reached the semifinals last year at the absolute peak of his form.
It’s getting harder and harder for Zverev to win a Grand Slam anyway. “The next star is here with Alcaraz. And you still have Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Rune, Sinner, Musetti. The Americans come with Fritz, Paul and Tiafoe. The competition doesn’t sleep,” said 45-year-old Haas, who is responsible for the Masters tournament in Indian Wells as a tournament director and lives in Los Angeles. Around three weeks before the start of the French Open, Zverev is still a long way from the condition in which he almost won his first Grand Slam tournament in Paris a year ago and took first place in the world rankings. Then a serious foot injury put him out of action for months.
The way back is still difficult. At the Masters in Madrid there was a bitter 1: 6, 2: 6 smack against Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16. Haas does not doubt the basic quality of Zverev. “If he’s in top form, feels good and has confidence, there are only four or five players in the world who can beat him,” said Haas, who was number two in the world tennis rankings at his best.