The injury-related withdrawal of Alexander Zverev cannot be compensated for by the German tennis team in the United Cup quarter-finals. The world number two needs to get fit again quickly.
Instead of starting the new year happy and healthy, Alexander Zverev is struggling with an injury a few weeks before the first tennis highlight of the new season. Without the ailing world number two, the German team lost 1-2 to Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in Perth. This means that the team competition in Australia is over a year after the surprising title win.
For Zverev, however, the biceps strain a week and a half before the Australian Open in Melbourne is the significantly worse news. Daniel Masur took his place for the Hamburg native and lost to Alexander Shevchenko 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 2-6 despite putting up a decent fight.
After Laura Siegemund’s 3-6, 1-6 loss to sixth-ranked Jelena Rybakina, it was already certain that the team would be eliminated. Siegemund and Tim Pütz’s 6-2, 6-2 victory in the final mixed doubles match against Schibek Kulambajewa and Dmitri Popko was only a small consolation. The final tournament in Sydney will take place without German participation this time.
The big goal remains the first Grand Slam title
How bad the bicep strain was, which the organizers in Perth only informed about shortly before the second singles match, was initially unclear. Zverev followed the action from the German team bench together with his father and coach in the arena flooded by the Australian summer sun.
It remains to be seen whether he will have to take a longer break or whether the cancellation was nothing more than a precaution. The big goal is and remains the long-awaited win of the first Grand Slam title in 2025.
In the victories in the preliminary round against Brazil and China, the 27-year-old won his singles against Thiago Monteiro and Zheng Zhizhen and already appeared to be in good form. With Siegemund, he scored the deciding point in the mixed doubles against China. “We want to keep riding the wave from last year,” he announced afterwards, but that’s no longer going to happen.
Attending the New Year’s fireworks in the evening
Zverev had obviously enjoyed his time in Perth and also felt very comfortable off the court. He reported on visiting tourist attractions and posted pictures of the New Year’s Eve fireworks in the city on the coast of Western Australia on Instagram. The match against Kazakhstan then started at 10:00 a.m. local time in blistering heat, with the Kazakh team celebrating their semi-final appearance wildly.
The United Cup is the start of the new season for many tennis professionals and also an important preparation for the Australian Open, which begins in mid-January 2025.
