Alexander Zverev is duped by an Argentinian youngster at the clay court tournament in Rio de Janeiro. There was an incident with a drone over the court.
Tennis ace Alexander Zverev missed the semi-finals at the clay court tournament in Rio de Janeiro after a drone incident. The top-seeded player from Hamburg lost to Francisco Comesana of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 and had to cope with the next bitter disappointment at the second clay court tournament of the year. Zverev had previously lost to an Argentine in the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires.
“Better level than in Buenos Aires, but it’s a shame that the tournament is ending like this,” said the 2021 Olympic champion. “I still enjoyed my time in Rio and hope to be able to come back.”
Zverev takes game interruption by drone with humor
In the first set, the world number two had to temporarily interrupt his service because a drone was hovering over the court. After the German, with the permission of chair umpire Aurelie Tourte (France), hit a ball in the direction of the aircraft, the troublemaker disappeared.
In Rio, Zverev, who is ranked 86th in the world, delivered a hot exchange in extremely hot conditions again, but especially with Comesana, who was able to win after a good two and a half hours. “I kept telling myself how wonderful it is to be alive,” said Comesana after his greatest sporting success: “I really enjoyed the game.”
As in the two rounds before, Zverev lived up to his role as favorite at the start and got the first break early on. But even in the quarterfinals, that wasn’t enough for the world number two to win through smoothly. Zverev gave up his second serve and only managed to win the set after another break.
Comesana is in a frenzy
But Zverev failed to correct the mistakes from the first round – inconsistency on service and shaky returns – and in the second and third sets, he was less and less able to take advantage at the decisive moments. At the same time, his opponent’s self-confidence grew with every point he won.
Comesana impressively demonstrated this in the final set after being behind after a break, when he won five games in a row to pull off the huge upset.
While the Argentine is in the semi-finals of a professional tournament for the first time, Zverev can only look ahead. The Hamburg native will play at the hard court tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, starting Thursday. Zverev is also the top seed there.
