“I spent a lot of time on my phone in Australia” Alexander Zverev blames absence of relatives for exit from Australian Open


“I spent a lot of time on my phone in Australia” Alexander Zverev blames absence of relatives for exit from Australian Open

Alexander Zverev

World No.3 Alexander Zverev had a poor outing at the 2022 Australian Open where the German lost in the 4th round despite being a title favourite in the absence of World No. 1 and 3-time defending champion Novak Djokovic who was denied entry by Australia for not getting vaccinated against Covid-19.

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After an early exit from Melbourne Park, Zverev made the decision to return to Tour immediately while many of the top-ranked players decided to take a break. Zverev entered the ATP Montpellier Open as the top seed and talked about his early exit. He had earlier talked about how the chances of him becoming the new World No. 1 shifted his focus and led to his exit.

Had Zverev won the Grand Slam, he would have eclipsed Djokovic and World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev to becoming the new World No. 1 but things did not turn and he was defeated in straight-sets by Denis Shapovalov. With Australia having strict rules regarding quarantine and vaccination, the German believed, it distracted him.

“I spent a lot of time on my phone in Australia because my relatives weren’t with me. It contributed to putting a lot of pressure on me. I won the Masters (ATP Finals) twice, 5 masters 1000, the Olympics, my next goal is to win a grand slam. I’m working hard for that,” said Zverev in another press conference at the tournament where he once again talked of his ambition to win a major.

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Alexander Zverev is in the finals in Montepellier

Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev

Zverev’s decision to return to Tour turned out fruitful for him as he sailed into the finals with straight-set wins. Zverev won his first match against Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 7-6(5) and followed it up with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Adrian Mannarino, winning the match in less than an hour.

In the semi-finals, Zverev defeated Mikael Ymer 6-1, 6-3 to reach the finals of the tournament where he will take on Alexander Bublik in what will be their second career meeting having last met in the first round of the 2021 Rotterdam Open.

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