After his victory against Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round, Alexander Zverev claimed an illness as the reason for his lack of stamina during his five-set Australian Open semifinal loss to Daniil Medvedev on Friday.
Zverev led 5-4 in the fourth set tiebreak and was two points from victory before losing 5-7 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-3, although the German player claimed that his problems started earlier.
Zverev expressed his thoughts after the match and said: “At the end of the second set, I started to lose energy. I started to not feel so fresh anymore. I got a bit sick after the Alcaraz match with a bit of fever so that didn’t help the recovery and I did play quite a lot. Against him (Medvedev), it’s impossible to play when you’re not 100% physically strong because he’s someone who doesn’t give you anything.”
H further said: “He makes you work for every single point and once you can’t do that anymore, it becomes difficult. I was close in the third and fourth sets, but I wasn’t the same player as I was in the first two sets anymore. I was just hanging on.”
Zverev had a lot of frustrating moments during the match, such as when he missed a volley at 2-2 in the decider and smacked the net with his racket.
He said: “It’s more frustrating that I didn’t feel 100% physically. It took the chance away,” Zverev said. “I lost it because of a physical state, not because of tennis.”
Zverev says he wasn’t 100% physically against Daniil Medvedev & that he got sick after Carlos Alcaraz match:
“End of the second set I started to lose energy. I started to not feel, you know, so fresh anymore. I mean, I am a bit sick. I got a bit sick after the Alcaraz match with… pic.twitter.com/4dXDpsQxJR
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 26, 2024
Alexander Zverev in 2024
LWWWWWWWWL Currently the world no.6, Alexander played his last match on the 26th of January when he capitulated to world no.3 Daniil Medvedev 5-7 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 in the semifinal of the Australian Open (draw).
Presently, during this year Alexander has managed to achieve a 9-2 win-loss record. Zverev conquered 1 title in Australia.
Zverev has scheduled to compete next in Los Cabos (Mifel Tennis Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 19th of February.
