With a plaster cast on his operated right foot, Alexander Zverev is already working on his comeback in the weight room. Germany’s number one is still hoping to return in time for the US Open at the end of August, even after his devastating injury at the French Open.
In the absence of the Olympic champion, Oscar Otte now bears the brunt of expectations for the German men’s tennis team at the grass-court classic at Wimbledon.
Otte is looking forward to the grass court classic
“This is one of the most beautiful tournaments, and of course I hope that I can continue my performance and perhaps also achieve something,” said the player from Cologne after his missed sensation against the world number one Daniil Medvedev at the preparation tournament in Halle, Westphalia. “I’m mega hot and ready.”
Otte even had set point against the Russian in the first round of the semi-final, but missed it due to a double fault and lost in the tiebreak. Even after the 6:7 (3:7), 3:6, the approximately 11,000 spectators celebrated the 28-year-old crowd favourite loudly. By reaching the semi-finals on grass for the second time in a row, the Davis Cup professional has moved into the top 40 of the world rankings for the first time in his career – and can even hope to be seeded at Wimbledon.
Zverev is working on his comeback
While Otte was looking forward to “switching off for a day or two” with his girlfriend and dog as well as visiting his family in Cologne, Zverev is not yet thinking about playing tennis a good two weeks after twisting his ankle in the Paris semi-final against Rafael Nadal. “I don’t do much, I lie on the bed with my dogs, but I also go to the weight room twice a day,” the 25-year-old told Bild am Sonntag. “I have to do everything sitting down at the moment. I otherwise go crazy if I don’t do anything for too long. “
Zverev was still lucky with his serious accident. The bone remained undamaged, all three lateral ligaments in his right ankle were torn. He was operated on shortly after the fall. In two or three weeks, Zverev will have to undergo further rehabilitation with Klaus Eder, the former physiotherapist of the German national football team.
“But I won’t be someone who plays immediately when he is ready for the first second. If I play the US Open, it won’t be for one or two rounds, but to win it,” the world number two stressed. “I’ll only come back when I’m in that kind of form. I don’t know if it will be the US Open yet, because I have to play one or two tournaments before that. But I haven’t ticked off New York yet. “
Zverev still waiting for first Grand Slam win
In Paris, Zverev went toe-to-toe with clay-court king Nadal, but the dream of his first Grand Slam victory is now to live on in New York. For Otte, the realistic goal at Wimbledon is to reach the second week of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time since the US Open last year.
Like Zverev now, Otte has also had to overcome serious setbacks in his career; two years ago he was still beyond the world’s top 200. “The fact that I can now play at the top or am even at the top,” he said, “is of course a confirmation for me and makes me mega proud.
