Alexander Zverev Says He “Threw up 37 Times” Before His Shocking Second-Round Loss at the Hamburg Open

Alexander Zverev will be heading to his 10th French Open without a big clay title this season, following his disappointing loss in Hamburg.

Alexander Zverev Says He “Threw up 37 Times” Before His Shocking Second-Round Loss at the Hamburg Open

Alexander Zverev (via X/ATP)

Alexander Zverev continued his poor run of form at the Hamburg Open, where he suffered a shocking defeat against Alexandre Muller second round. The World No.3 was seeking to recharge in his home tournament ahead of the Roland Garros but that hasn’t ended well for him. He revealed after his loss that he vomited 37 times ahead of the match against Muller.

Zverev’s bright start to begin the year faltered at the final hurdle of the Australian Open. He was seeking to win his first Grand Slam of his career in his 36th major tournament main draw but was defeated by Jannik Sinner in the final. Since then he hasn’t fully recovered from it.

Although he had a brilliant week in Munich, beating Ben Shelton to win the ATP 500 title, his results have been subpar since. Last week, he failed to defend his Italian Open title after losing to Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-finals. The German then hoped to turn things around in his home tournament in Hamburg.

He won his opening match, beating Aleksandar Kovacevic in straight sets, but In his second-round tie against Muller, he was given a reality check in the second set after winning the first easily. The Frenchman then came from behind 2-4 in the tie-break of the deciding set to win the match 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

After the loss, Zverev admitted that he was severely under the weather before the match. He added that he vomited 37 times and had a high fever throughout the night before the match and was proud to have played despite the situation. He said:

For the fact that I threw up 37 times and had a fever of 39.4 degrees all night, that’s actually quite okay. I think there are two players in the whole world who would have taken to the court today. I’m one of them. And I’m really proud of that. I was two points away from winning the match. There’s a lot to be said in my favour.

Zverev led Muller 5-0 in their head-to-head record ahead of the match and had beaten him recently at the Munich Open. Also, the Frenchman was 0-2 against players ranked in the Top 5 of the ATP. His victory over Zverev was the biggest of his career. On the other hand, the loss also means the World No.3 will drop points as he failed to defend his runners-up finish last year.

Alexander Zverev hopes to get healthy before the French Open starts next week

Alexander Zverev is set to defend 1,300 ranking points at the French Open, which he just has days to prepare for after a disappointing exit in Hamburg. The German currently sits as World No.3 with 7,285 points, with the World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz having 8,850 points.

Alexander Zverev (via X/Universe tennis)
Alexander Zverev (via X/Universe tennis)

Also, Zverev will be heading into the French Open with more pressure. This is his 10th French Open and 37th Grand Slam main draw, but he’s yet to win any. After his loss against Alexandre Muller, he revealed that he hopes to get to get healthy and play his best tennis at the French Open.

I think I played a solid and good match. But he realized at some point that I wasn’t feeling well and then went on playing the points for as long as possible. That was clever on his part. I’ll get healthy first and then see. But nothing will change for me for Paris. I still want to show good tennis there and win a lot of matches.

Zverev reached the final of the Roland Garros because of his form on clay last year. He had won the Italian Open ahead of the tournament and carried good momentum but yet couldn’t win the title.

Also Read: Novak Djokovic Happy as He ‘Breaks the Ice’ in Geneva After Consecutive Defeats on Clay