Alexander Zverev: "I was afraid I would not come back"

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There was a before and an after in Alexander Zverev's career. A stone's throw from his first Grand Slam success, specifically in the semifinals of the Roland Garros, the German tennis player suffered a serious ankle injury.

Zverev explained in an exclusive interview with the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport his feelings: "I no longer have pain and so I'm back to having fun. But since June there have been many times when it hasn't been like this, it took me a long time to find the right sensations. In Australia I was still very limited, the pain hadn't gone away and I couldn't move as I wanted.

Now I'm definitely going in the other direction and starting to enjoy my time. I no longer have the injury in mind. Up until a few weeks ago, I'm still getting uncomfortable signals from my foot.  I was still in pain, but now I feel pretty free on the court.

I thought I can't go back to the way it was before? In September. I imagined I was ready for the US Open: the ligaments had healed but there was bone edema that required another three months of rest. It was mentally difficult to accept that. So I packed my bags and went on vacation, no longer doing rehab. It helped me a lot, my foot needed rest."

Zverev's come back

After losing an incredible first set and proving he could compete on par with Rafael Nadal, Zverev tried to recover a cross forehand, but sprained his ankle badly.

The instrumental examinations subsequently highlighted the injury of all three lateral ligaments of the right ankle and convinced the player born in 1997 to undergo an operation. Zverev thus brought an early end to his season and returned to the field directly to the United Cup in early 2023.

In the five tournaments held this year, the German has won only three games. Regaining confidence won't be easy, but Zverev will do anything to return to being one of the best players on the Tour.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/jlvVwcg

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