Missed semi-finals in Vienna
Zverev smashes rackets and is eliminated
October 27, 2023, 11:21 p.m
After seven wins in a row, Alexander Zverev’s winning streak in Vienna is broken. The Olympic tennis champion lost in the quarterfinals to his Russian friend Andrei Rublew, against whom he had already lost twice this year. Zverev doesn’t come into play at all, his racket has to believe in it.
Alexander Zverev was eliminated after a botched start in the quarter-finals in Vienna against his tennis friend Andrej Rublew. The 2021 Tokyo Olympic champion lost the duel with the Russian fifth in the world rankings on Friday 1:6, 7:6 (7:5), 3:6. After two and a half hours, the 26-year-old from Hamburg suffered a defeat against Rublew in the third match this year and had to congratulate his opponent on reaching the semi-finals. Two years ago, Zverev celebrated winning the tournament in Vienna.
Despite the defeat, Zverev is currently in a decent starting position as seventh for his desired participation in the ATP Finals, the end of the season for the best eight professionals of the year. The ATP Finals in Turin start on November 12th. The last free places will be awarded next week at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy.
Zverev, tenth in the world rankings, did not get off to a good start against Rublev, who is the same age and has secured his qualification for Turin, and repeatedly came under heavy pressure in the baseline duels. The German number one initially couldn’t find a solution against the power of the Russian who had strong returns and conceded two breaks to 1:3 and 1:5.
In the second round, Zverev smashed his racket onto the hall floor when a backhand went too long at 2-2. A little later he had to fend off another breakball, but remained in the lead. Zverev came into the game much better. In the tiebreak he turned a 0:3 deficit into a 7:5. However, the set equalization did not give Zverev any security. He immediately lost his serve again and was quickly significantly behind. At 1:4, Zverev took out his frustration on his racket again. He fought, but couldn’t take advantage of his chances to make the good match exciting again in the end.