Rio de Janeiro – A little more than a week after the scandal in Acapulco, Alexander Zverev starts his personal mission to make amends in the Davis Cup
The Olympic champion surprisingly joined the German tennis team a few days ago, which will face hosts Brazil in the first round in Rio de Janeiro this Friday (8pm CET) and Saturday (6pm CET/both live on Sportdeutschland.tv).
Zverev with unacceptable behaviour in Mexico
After the negative headlines due to his disqualification at the ATP tournament in Mexico, it is also about polishing up his image for Zverev. In Acapulco, Zverev had hit the umpire’s chair several times with his tennis racket after losing a doubles match and almost hit the umpire on the foot. Zverev was subsequently excluded from the entire tournament and fined. In addition, the men’s organisation ATP is still investigating the 24-year-old further.
“He knows that his behaviour was unacceptable,” said German team manager Michael Kohlmann. Zverev had apologised the day after his freak-out and, like Kohlmann, also described his behaviour as “unacceptable”. In Rio de Janeiro, the German number one initially did not want to comment on the incidents. Instead, he wants to enjoy the always good atmosphere in the team and help Germany qualify for the group stage of the team competition, which has been modified once again.
The world number three will start the tournament with Thiago Wild on Friday. After that, Jan-Lennard Struff and the Brazilian number one Thiago Monteiro will face each other in the second singles match. On Saturday, the doubles and two more singles of the first round match will follow. “I have never played against him before. But we have trained together a few times. He is a very good player with a lot of talent,” Zverev said about the duel with the 21-year-old world number 216. “It will be an interesting match. I expect a tough fight.”
Zverev wants to “win the Davis Cup for once”
“Together with the team, I have the big goal to win the Davis Cup once,” said Zverev. Actually, the Hamburg player did not want to play in Brazil because the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells is already on the agenda next week. Then, after Acapulco, there was a rethink. “Whenever an opportunity arises, I am happy to play my part,” said Zverev.
Within the team, Zverev’s freak-out in Acapulco was no longer an issue. “We haven’t addressed that specifically now,” Kohlmann said. Instead, the focus should be on the duel with Brazil. From the ranking positions of the individual players, Germany is the clear favourite going into the match. “But matches in South America are always something special,” Kohlmann said. “The high temperatures, the special atmosphere, you have to be prepared for it.”
Tennis legend Boris Becker felt the same 20 years ago. In the witch’s cauldron of Rio, the three-time Wimbledon champion struggled to a five-set victory in his opening match, then lost the doubles alongside Eric Jelen and, exhausted and unnerved, did not compete again on the final day. Markus Zoecke finally lost the third singles match in a legendary Davis Cup match against the Brazilian Jaime Oncins after more than five hours in five sets. The German elimination was thus perfect.
