Alexander Zverev continues to suffer from the effects of pneumonia. Ahead of the tournament in Vienna, he talks about when he will be fully fit again – and what is out of the question for him.
Alexander Zverev does not expect to be back to full strength until next season due to the after-effects of pneumonia. “It’s not a matter of a week or two. I hope to be back to 100 percent by next year when I arrive in Australia,” said the world number three in the tennis rankings ahead of the tournament in Vienna. “It’s not a matter of now or in Paris or in Turin.”
The Italian city will host the ATP Finals from November 10 to 17, featuring the top eight professionals of the year. The first Grand Slam tournament of the year will be the Australian Open in Melbourne, which begins in mid-January.
Full recovery will take time
Zverev has been suffering from the effects of pneumonia for quite some time. At the Laver Cup in Berlin, he complained of fever and coughing just over a month ago. He then decided not to play in the tournament in Beijing and most recently failed in the last 16 at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai.
“The lung thing will take some time. You have to take the right medication to clear your lungs a bit,” said Zverev. Zverev did not answer the question of whether he would still be competing with the German team in the Davis Cup finals in Malaga after the ATP Finals.
No early end to the season
However, an early end to the season is out of the question. “It’s a question of the doctors, whether they thought I could make it worse and whether the healing process could take longer,” said the Hamburg native. “The answer to both questions was no.”
On Monday, Zverev will face Austrian Joel Schwärzler at the start of the tournament in Vienna. Previously, the 27-year-old also spoke about his long-standing diabetes, which he had made public in 2022. “If you have it well under control and if you handle it with reason, then diabetes doesn’t need to put a stop to your performance,” he said at the launch of a dietary supplement for diabetics that he helped develop. “There are some athletes who have achieved everything with diabetes.”