Struff also loses in Madrid
Confused Zverev struggles with setback
April 30, 2024, 8:43 p.m
Alexander Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff lose in the round of 16 at the ATP Masters in Madrid. For Zverev in particular, the defeat is a bitter setback on the way to Paris; he has to find an explanation.
Alexander Zverev ran his hand over his face, but he couldn’t wipe away the question marks on his forehead. “It’s confusing for me when I have the ball in my racket like that, when I serve at 227 km/h and a good rate and then lose 3:6, 4:6,” said Zverev after his round of 16 exit in Madrid. He added perplexedly to Sky that he hadn’t experienced something like this in “a long time.”
While Zverev searched in vain for an explanation for his defeat against the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, a little later Jan-Lennard Struff found an answer to his opponent’s variable game. In the new edition of last year’s final, he put the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in dire straits, but fought in vain. After 3:6, 7:6 (7:5), 6:7 (4:7), like Zverev, he was eliminated in the round of 16.
Struff recently won his first title in Munich, and in the “Caja Magica” he continued his winning streak and went confidently into the duel with Alcaraz. “We’re trying to ride the wave,” said his coach Marvin Netuschil. In the 2023 final, Struff was “at least on par,” and this time too he kept the match open for a long time. But the defending champion and Wimbledon winner kept his nerve in the third set and converted his fifth match point after 2:52 hours.
“It’s obviously disappointing”
Even if Struff now slips in the ranking and the seeding for the French Open is in danger, the end should not mean too much of a setback on the way to Paris (May 26th to June 9th). It’s different with Alexander Zverev: The Olympic champion from Hamburg can’t get going even on sand. After the defeats in Monte Carlo (round of 16) and Munich (quarter-finals), he was caught early again – and at one of his favorite tournaments.
“It’s obviously disappointing, especially here in Madrid, because this is a tournament that I always have the feeling that I can win,” said Zverev. The 27-year-old had triumphed at the Masters in the Spanish capital in 2018 and 2021. After the freezing cold in Munich, he wanted to play for the title again here in much more pleasant conditions and send a signal to the competition.
That failed completely. Even if he is ranked 22nd in the world rankings. Cerundolo presented some difficult tasks: they were rarely unsolvable. And now the time is running. Until Roland Garros, the Grand Slam where Zverev currently has the best chances of winning his first major title, the Hamburg native must first find an explanation for the defeat – and build up self-confidence.