World No. 3 Alexander Zverev came to the Hamburg Open to gain some matches before Roland Garros. However, he shockingly lost to Alexandre Muller 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5). The German huffed and puffed throughout the match, having a 5-3 lead in the third set tiebreak. However, this was before Muller won four points in a row to secure the victory.
Muller was credited with some efficient play in the tiebreaker. At 5-5, he dug out several volleys before gaining a match point. Zverev eventually collapsed after hitting the forehand into the net after a long rally. The scoreline was just the beginning of major talking points regarding the recent Australian Open finalist.
Alexander Zverev’s Shocking Confession
According to the reports from Tennis365, Zverev gave a shocking update about his physical health after his Hamburg Open match. He said, “For the fact that I threw up 37 times and had a fever of 39.4 degrees all night, that’s actually quite okay. I think there are two players in the whole world who would have taken to the court today. I’m one of them. And I’m really proud of that.
“I was two points away from winning the match. There’s a lot to be said in my favor. I think I played a solid and good match. But he realized at some point that I wasn’t feeling well and then went on playing the points for as long as possible. That was clever on his part. I’ll get healthy first and then see. But nothing will change for me for Paris. I still want to show good tennis there and win a lot of matches.”
Question Marks On Roland Garros
There are a bunch of problems for Zverev coming into this year’s Roland Garros. He recently lost his World No. 2 ranking to Carlos Alcaraz after being unable to defend the Italian Open. He lost the Australian Open final earlier this year to Jannik Sinner and has only won one ATP title since then, which came at the Munich Open.
Clay has historically been kind to Zverev. He has multiple titles in Madrid and Rome and reached the finals of Roland Garros last year. However, with the way he is playing and how others are improving, it is hard to see him among the favorites for the 2025 edition. He would also hope his health improves in the coming days, as Grand Slam matches test your physicality more than anything, especially on clay.
