"It was very cold" Zverev blames defeat against Djokovic on conditions
Alexander Zverev was deeply frustrated after his elimination from the French Open. He cited the conditions as the reason for his defeat. But he made it too easy for himself.
05.06.2025, 08:42
05.06.2025, 14:43
dpa
Alexander Zverev was not very self-critical after his quarter-final exit at the French Open against Novak Djokovic and blamed the conditions in the Stade Roland Garros for his defeat. "It was very cold, so the speed of my serve wasn't particularly high," said Zverev after his four-set defeat in Paris.
At the start of the match, the sun was still shining on Court Philippe-Chatrier and it was around 20 degrees. "I was still able to play a few winners and do some damage with my serve," said Zverev. After that, however, it cooled down considerably and the game became slower as a result.
Zverev without answers
"At a certain point, I had the feeling that I no longer knew how to score a point from the baseline against him," said Zverev after his next dream of a Grand Slam title was shattered. "I had the feeling that he had an answer to everything I did," said Zverev, adding appreciatively: "He played better than me today."
However, Zverev's performance was disappointing overall. It was not the first time that the 28-year-old had no answers to his opponent's tactics during a match. The 38-year-old Djokovic played really well and returned an incredible number of balls. However, Zverev lacked the aggression and variability to reach the semi-finals in Paris for the fifth time in a row.
Zverev has a (horrendous) record of 5 wins and 18 defeats in matches against top 10 players at major level. Former tennis star Rafael Nadal recently said that Zverev has so far lacked the mental strength to win a Grand Slam title. "Unfortunately, I think it's down to his head. Because if you look at his tennis level, he should have won one already," the Spaniard summed up.
Boris Becker criticized his compatriot for his passive style of play. Becker was particularly upset that the 28-year-old put up with Djokovic playing 35 (!) stops against him, according to official statistics, without putting up much of a fight.
"It's also a bit disrespectful. If I had played against a player who had played me the fifth stop, I would have hit him in the stomach like that on the sixth stop, he would never play another stop," said Becker as an expert on Eurosport. "I would have handled the ball differently - and so would many other players, by the way."
Zverev still without a plan for Stuttgart
Zverev was deeply disappointed after the defeat in 3:17 hours. Immediately after the match, last year's finalist was unable to say how he would continue in his job over the next few days. "I'm going to play golf. I'm so not in the mood for tennis right now," said Zverev.
Zverev is actually registered for the grass court tournament in Stuttgart next week. In previous years, he had always canceled a start there at short notice because he was busy until at least the semi-final Friday in Paris. After losing to Djokovic, he would now have enough time to deal with the frustration and then start the grass court season in Stuttgart.
He then plans to take part in the ATP 500 tournament in Halle, Westphalia, before the next highlight begins on June 30 with the grass court classic at Wimbledon. Zverev has never made it past the round of 16 there.
