ATP Finals in Turin – Zverev gives update after fall and shock moment against Alcaraz: ‘It was a pain in the ass’

There was an eerie silence in the Pala Alpitour for a few anxious seconds before Alexander Zverev gave a thumbs up to Carlos Alcaraz, who had come to the German’s side to ask about him.

When the score was 3:2 from Hamburg’s point of view, Zverev slipped unluckily while chasing the yellow ball. However, the 26-year-old did not “fall”, as he later explained in an interview with Sky, but “just slipped. I crushed the Achilles tendon or the capsule. It was nerve pain.”

However, after a short while, he knew that everything was fine.

“I didn’t feel anything on the field. Now when I’m here (in the interview), male. red.) “When I stand up, I feel it a little bit,” the Olympic champion said. “But I hope everything will be fine.”

His brother Mischa Zverev, who sat in the German’s penalty area as usual during the match, quickly realized that the situation could not be compared to the serious injury that Zverev suffered in the semi-finals of the 2022 French Open.

“It was recorded – not with a regular tape, but with a really strong tape. That’s why the doctor told me straight away that it should be fine,” the 36-year-old explained. “You could see straight away that you couldn’t Comparing it to Paris. There was no thumb at that time.”

In 2022, Zverev then had to undergo surgery that slowed him down for more than six months. This time the German number one was able to continue playing after a short period and showed no signs of it after that.

“I think I played really well,” the Hamburg player himself said, rating his performance. But his comeback was “non-existent”: “I didn’t play back at all for half a set, which is a bit of a shame. . But I beat the second ranked player in the world.”

Thanks to this opening win, Zverev now has legitimate hopes of reaching the semi-finals. During the preliminary round, he will face Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev in the red group. The top two reach the fourth round.