Melbourne – Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has been eliminated from the Australian Open after a puzzling performance in the last 16 and has to abruptly bury all his title hopes.
In a strange tennis match with numerous inexplicable errors, the German number one lost 3:6, 6:7 (5:7), 3:6 to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in Melbourne. Out of anger, Zverev chopped up a racket, but it did not turn things around. Shapovalov, ranked 14th in the world, also showed fluctuations, but Zverev was unable to turn this to his advantage.
Zverev did not live up to his expectations of a Grand Slam triumph this year in Australia. Because the Serbian world number one and record champion Novak Djokovic was not allowed to compete due to his cancelled visa, Zverev’s chances had increased – even if Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal would now have been waiting in the quarter-finals.
Too many mistakes for Zverev
But the world number three lacked his usual confidence on groundstrokes against Shapovalov. There was no sign of the self-confidence that had distinguished him in the final months of last season after his gold medal in Tokyo.
In his first match, which started in the hot Melbourne afternoon, Zvervev played error-prone and looked sluggish. He conceded the break to 1:3 and fell behind 1:4. During the change of ends, he put a cooling ice towel over his shoulders. The 3:6 meant the first set loss in the tournament. The Hamburg player had won all three previous games in three sets.
Zverev started the second set with an unnecessary forehand error and a double fault. He immediately had two break points against him. When he had fended them off, he let himself breathe with a loud “come on”. It was almost as if he had to realise that he was about to enter a Grand Slam quarter-final. But: The next double fault followed and the next loss of serve.
Frustrated Zverev smashes racket
Three times Zverev hacked his racket on the ground, rendering it unfit for play and conceding a warning. The tantrum seemed to have been only a matter of time. But it did not get any better: Zverev made the wrong decisions in the rally, he did not hit some balls correctly and acted too passively.
Emblematic: When he had a break chance for 2:2, he hit the return with the frame of his racket. The ball landed on the upper rows of spectators. Zverev then took the next break chance. But that he stayed in the match was more thanks to Shapovalov’s lack of consistency. Zverev gave away a 5:3 lead in the second set. Again and again, the world number three looked questioningly at his team.
The loss of the second set was also characteristic of the unsafe performance: left-hander Shapovalov double-faulted on his first set point. But instead of then levelling at 6:6 with his own serve, Zverev came up with a completely unsuccessful frame ball.
“He gave his opponent time and too much space,” was Eurosport expert Boris Becker’s verdict on the tiebreak: “He needs to put more pressure on.” But the third set also began with a quick loss of serve. The ATP Finals winner has never beaten a top ten player at a Grand Slam tournament. On this Sunday in Melbourne, it was not enough for the world number 14 either.
