US Open 2020: “Her opinion does not matter to me,” Zverev hits back at Navratilova’s criticism

US Open 2020: “Her opinion does not matter to me,” Zverev hits back at Navratilova’s criticism

Alexander Zverev

Martina Navratilova

Post his struggling 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 victory over Borna Coric at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the quarterfinals of US Open 2020 on Tuesday, Alexander Zverev was criticised for his atrocious performance by Martina Navratilova. The 18-time grand slam singles champion, told Amazon Prime that the German needed more of his final set display to “play better tennis overall”.

She said, “He will not be able to win against the top players playing the way he did today.”

Her opinion does not matter to me, says Zverev

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev was quite despondent with his criticism. He pointed to his record wins against Roger Federer (4-3 head-to-head) and Novak Djokovic, who he has beaten in two finals.

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He later said in the news conference, “Maybe she should look at my record against the big guys. Maybe she should look that I’m positive against Roger. Maybe she should look that I’ve beaten Novak on multiple occasions in big matches and finals. And I’m in the semi-finals, and sometimes not playing your best and finding a way is more important than playing your best. But she’s a grand slam champion, as well, multiple grand slam champion, she’s respected, but her opinion right now does not matter to me.”

He went on to say, “I mean, look, obviously, yeah, I didn’t play well. It’s no secret about it. I was down 6-1, 4-2 after about 28 minutes. It’s not a secret I didn’t play my best. But I found a way, found a way to win that second set, and I feel like that’s the most important. I think the Novak news shocked us all, and obviously for us younger guys, we see that as a massive opportunity, but we have to put our head down and just do our job and focus on ourselves.”

Also read: US Open 2020: Serena Williams reprobates from speaking on Djokovic’s disqualification