In the Vienna final against Jannik Sinner, the tennis star made his comeback to the world’s elite and gained confidence for the rest of the season.
Alexander Zverev was quickly smiling again. His first world-class performance in a long time clearly did the Hamburg native good, despite his narrow three-set defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Vienna final. “We’re slowly finding our way back to good tennis. An incredibly positive week, even though we lost,” Zverev said to his team during the light-hearted award ceremony.
“The last few months haven’t always been easy in terms of my body,” Zverev reflected, emphasizing the “hard work” needed to regain his former strength. Then he joked with some crude words: “Jannik, you’re really getting on all of us players’ nerves. Relax, we know you’re the best player in the world. Let us win something too.“
Sinner, who had previously defeated Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 after a high-class match, praised the German afterwards: ”It’s been a very difficult year for you. But you’re playing better and better every week. I wish you all the best for the end of the season. Tennis needs you, so keep playing like this,” said the Italian, who celebrated his 22nd title in Vienna.
Zverev had hardly reached his top level in recent months, and the 28-year-old was also plagued by physical problems. Surprisingly, however, he now faced Wimbledon winner Sinner on equal terms in the final in Vienna and gained a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. Before the ATP Finals starting on November 9 and the Davis Cup final round with the German team, in which Zverev also wants to participate, the Indoor Masters in Paris Bercy (starting Monday) is still to come. The world number three is the defending champion there.
