Alexander
Zverev opened up about the terrible injury he suffered during the 2022 French
Open semifinals against Rafael Nadal.
The 2022
season was one of the toughest in the German's career. He had a strong campaign
at Roland Garros, reaching the semifinals after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the
quarterfinals and entered the semifinals with the intention of challenging the
multi-time champion Rafael Nadal.
Zverev lost
the first set in a closely contested tiebreak and reached the tie-break of the
second set in a match where 'Sascha' played toe-to-toe with Nadal and had a
good chance of winning. However, a severe ankle injury during that tie-break
led him to end his season in early June and undergo ankle surgery.
The former
world No. 2 shared in an interview on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast the
difficult moments he went through after the injury:
“I think
you really appreciate the sport of tennis. You really appreciate the tough
days, the fun days. You just appreciate being out there on the court, when it
gets taken away from you. Most players realise that once they quit tennis
because they don’t have this period, this injury. I realised it earlier on, so
I’m thankful for that, but I want to get back to where I was," Zverev said.
“I didn’t
want the injury to happen, obviously, but it did make me grow, it did make me
realise what tennis actually means. If I’m back to the level, if I win Grand
Slams and become World No. 1, maybe I’ll look back and say ‘It was all worth
it,’" he added.
This year,
his comeback has been on the rise, and he has already returned to the top 10.
Furthermore, he currently sits at 7th in the ATP Race. While he doesn't have
his spot in the Finals secured, Zverev maintains good chances of qualifying for
the tournament for the sixth consecutive time. He has previously won the title
twice (in 2018 and 2021):
"If I
make Turin, if I come back after such an injury and not playing for seven
months when I was really uncertain if I was ever going to come back to the
level that I was… If I come back and I’m one of the best eight players in the
world, it’s a great achievement, there’s no question about it. It’s a comeback
year to remember, that’s for sure," Zverev said.
“I think
for me it’s just being healthy. I think at the beginning of the year I was
still managing pain, I was still dealing with pain. I was not moving the way I
wanted to move, I was not sliding around the court, if you look back at the
matches that I played. It was more that for me
“If you
want to be competitive at this sport you have to be 100 per cent healthy, you
need to be moving the way you want to on the tennis court. For me to be able to
do that, I need to be pain-free."
