In the end, Alexander Zverev was able to save himself the stressful detour via Sofia. Worried about missing out on qualifying for the ATP finals in Turin, the Olympic tennis champion quickly registered for the small tournament in the Bulgarian capital after his round of 16 exit at the Masters 1000 event in Paris-Bercy. Because the competitors for the Turin ticket then made a mistake, Zverev canceled his participation and instead recharged his batteries for a few days in his adopted home of Monte Carlo.
Strength that Zverev could use after a strenuous comeback year with many ups and downs in his last appearance this season. The 26-year-old seemed tired recently and struggled more through his games. “He didn’t seem so fresh in Asia at the end,” said Germany’s tennis icon Boris Becker at Eurosport.
Another problem is weighing on the Hamburg resident: the impending trial for bodily harm in Berlin. The background is the allegations made by Zverev’s ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea. The influencer claims that Zverev became violent towards her. The public prosecutor’s office wanted to shorten the proceedings and therefore applied for a penalty order for a fine of 450,000 euros, which the court approved because it considers the allegations to be credible. If the defendant accepts the penalty order, a trial is avoided and the entire procedure is greatly shortened. But at the same time it would be an admission of guilt and Zverev vehemently denies having become violent. So now he is facing a trial for assault.
But Zverev wants to give it his all once again to finish the year with the best eight players of the year. After all, the ATP Finals are one of his favorite tournaments. “The eight best players of the year are here, it’s always an honor to be there,” said Zverev. “And nothing that can be taken for granted.”
Zverev has already won the tournament twice. In 2018 in the final against Novak Djokovic, in 2021 in the final against the Russian Daniil Medvedev, whom he will meet in the preliminary round this year. Other group opponents are Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz from Spain and Medvedev’s compatriot Andrei Rublev, against whom Zverev has lost all of his last three games.
This is one of the reasons why Zverev is only entering the race as an outsider this time after his absence last year due to injury. The clear favorite is Djokovic, who is aiming for his seventh title and would therefore be the sole record winner of the ATP Finals. He is currently tied with Roger Federer, who has also won six times.
But Zverev feels comfortable in his outsider role, and he wasn’t the favorite when he won both titles. “If I can reach the ATP finals in Turin after such an injury and end the year in the top 8, then it has been a good season,” said Zverev in a Eurosport interview.
After his serious foot injury, Zverev found it difficult to get going. “At the beginning of the year I was still playing with pain and had to find a way to deal with it,” said Zverev. It wasn’t until the middle of the year that the Hamburg native found his old form and made it to the semi-finals at the French Open.
Then there were ups and downs. Tournament victories in Hamburg and Chengdu, opening defeats in Shanghai and Tokyo. “Sure, I didn’t win any Grand Slam competitions or the tournaments that I won in recent years,” said Zverev, “but overall I can be satisfied.” A successful performance in Turin would increase this satisfaction and give the German number one a good feeling for the new year.
