How Sascha Zverev lost in Munich by a matter of inches

The German lost a tough match after he wasn't able to convert 2 match points.

Sascha Zverev

It’s a tough tough moment for Alexander Zverev.

The German had the world at his fingertips at the end of last year after he won the ATP finals in London following back-to-back wins over the great Roger Federer (semifinal) and Novak Djokovic (final).

Unfortunately, things went dramatically south in 2019 as Sascha has been struggling with his results with an unflattering 11-8 win-loss record. Zverev’s ranking will go from no.3 to no.4 after this week and if he doesn’t bounce back in the following weeks in Madrid (where he is the defending champion) and Rome (he is the 2018 runner-up), his position in the rankings will plummet even more.

What happened in Munich?

Sascha was the defending champion in Munich where he won the title for the last 2 years. However, the German didn’t look very confident about his means for the entire tournament. In the quarters against Christian Garin, a clay court specialist, Zverev saved 3 match points when he was 4-6 4-5 down. Eventually, the German turned the table and he had 2 consecutive match points when leading 4-6 7-5 5-4 (15-40 on Garin’s serve). The Chilean saved the first set point after striking a courageous forehand that was inches from being out. Eventually, Sascha didn’t manage to convert any matching point to lose 6-4 5-7 7-5.

Everything is going against me. ZVEREV

After the match, Sascha was visibly disappointed to comment

“Everything is going against me at the moment, nothing is going in my favour. Last year, I won matches like this, but this year I am often losing them. I thought the ball was out on the first one, and then it was out only by a few inches on the second one.”

Sascha will now head to Madrid to try to defend his title. His loss of confidence will not help the cause.