Zverev admits he was on the verge of retiring before his debut in Hamburg: "I decided to play 20 minutes before the match"

Andrés Tomás Rico | 19 Jul 2024 | 09.00

Sign up with Bet365 here
Make your first deposit of at least €5
Go to the “Live” section and watch every match

Alexander Zverev is back on clay, on the same surface where he lifted the Rome title at the end of May and reached the final of Roland Garros in June. After his stint at Wimbledon, where he fell to Taylor Fritz and suffered a significant knee injury, the German returns to defend the Hamburg title and reclaim the Olympic gold. However, it remains to be seen if his knee will allow it.

Uncertainty surrounded the Hamburg tournament on Tuesday because its defending champion had still not confirmed his presence yet. Minutes and hours passed, and with less than an hour before the match, no one knew if 'Sascha' had recovered from his knee injury and if he would show up.

- Doubts until the end

"This morning, I still wasn't sure if I was going to play or not and I had quite a bit of pain during warm-up. Then I rested for a while and did what I could, treated my knee. After that, I felt much better and decided to play 20 minutes before the match," confessed the current world number 4, who is suffering from a bone edema and a tear in the knee capsule.

"I have an injury that I know what to expect and will take time to heal. It won't heal in the next few days; it will take weeks, and it depends on me whether I will play like this or not," warned Zverev due to the injury sustained in his Wimbledon round of 16 match against Taylor Fritz.

- High risk of recurrence injury

An injury to his knee that may take up to 8 weeks to recover and carries a high risk of recurrence. Nonetheless, the Hamburg native assures that there is no danger on clay: "I would have to fully straighten my knee and do this hyperextension like what happened to me in London. Something that, in my opinion, I have never done in 25 years on clay. I don't see any danger here."

Despite being just minutes away from not participating and withdrawing from the tournament where he defends his title, the current champion easily defeated Jesper De Jong (6-2, 6-2) in the first round. In the round of 16, he had to dig deeper to come back and beat Hugo Gaston in three sets (4-6, 6-2, 7-5), and now he faces Zhizhen Zhang in the quarterfinals.

"In any other tournament, I wouldn't even try to play. But Hamburg is something special to me, it's my home. And in a way, when I step on this court, the pain diminishes a bit, when the adrenaline kicks in," confessed the German who, in less than two weeks and if his knee allows it, will have to defend the Olympic gold he won in Tokyo 2020.

- A potential German flag bearer in the opening ceremony of Paris 2024

In fact, he is one of the likely candidates to carry the German flag in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. An honor few athletes in the world can boast, and Sacha is aware of this: "If someone told me I would attend the Olympic Games' opening ceremony as the flagbearer, that would mean to me even more than sporting success."

Zverev aims to match the achievement of Andy Murray (London 2012, Rio 2016) and win another Olympic gold. Furthermore, it all takes place on the Phillipe Chatrier at Roland Garros, where he has experienced two of his worst moments as a tennis player. First, his severe injury in the 2022 semifinals against Rafa Nadal, where he twisted his ankle and tore several ligaments. And the second, just over a month ago when he squandered a 2-1 set lead in the final and lost to an Alcaraz who denied him his first Grand Slam.

This is the perfect opportunity for 'Sascha' to seek redemption and, on the third try, he may conquer the center court of Roland Garros. However, his knee injury must be closely monitored to see its impact on the court. "My mindset this year, of course, is to win. An Olympic medal is something special. There is just under a week between Hamburg and Paris. I will do everything I can to succeed in both tournaments," states Zverev, who has the chance to triumph in two significant venues for him or, perhaps, the misfortune of injuries could once again hinder his success.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Zverev confiesa que estuvo a punto de retirarse antes de su debut en Hamburgo: “Decidí jugar 20 minutos antes del partido”