Alexander Zverev raises concerns with Cincinnati Open health confession
Alexander Zverev made an honest admission about his physical state after his 2025 Cincinnati Open quarter-final victory against Ben Shelton.
The world No 3 eased to a 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-ranked Shelton in just an hour and 17 minutes.
Zverev broke a well below par Shelton twice in each set and saved the only break point he faced in the match when serving for the first set.
Despite his dominance, Zverev called the doctor after breaking to go up 2-1 in the second set as he looked to be having breathing issues.
The German’s physical struggles did not threaten to derail his progress, though, as his 22-year-old American opponent appeared to hit a wall after a superb recent run.
Shelton entered the match on a nine-match winning streak that included his title run at the Canadian Open and three wins in Cincinnati. Zverev now holds a 4-0 record against Shelton.
In a post-match interview, Zverev said: “Right now, I’m not feeling too great. We’ll see. I have a day to get fresh and to hopefully feel 100% again.
“I’m not sure what happened, I came out today and probably felt the best I did in a few months. I was feeling the ball incredibly well from both sides.
Alexander Zverev News
Alexander Zverev reveals he got ‘professional help’ after Wimbledon mental health comments
Alexander Zverev reveals he is ‘not a huge fan’ of one key Cincinnati Open change
“But I started feeling not so great at the end of the opening set, and things got progressively worse.
“But I’m in the semi-finals and I’ll do everything I can to be 100 per cent tomorrow.”
Zverev will face world No 2 and five-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals in Cincinnati on Saturday night.
The 28-year-old holds a 6-5 head-to-head advantage against the 22-year-old Spaniard having won the pair’s last meeting at the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin.
Alcaraz battled to a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win against world No 11 Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals in Cincinnati.
Speaking to Tennis365, Zverev vowed to “spoil the party” as he gave his verdict on the success of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“At the moment, Carlos is the kind of the star boy now. He just brings great energy to the court and along with Jannik, they are the players to beat. I just hope to spoil their party a little bit and I think I can do that,” said Zverev.
“Carlos is a great guy. He is fun to be around and he always has a smile on his face. If he can avoid any controversies, he is going to be very, very loved by tennis fans.”
READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz thrashed, Emma Raducanu shines, Iga Swiatek storms back – early US Open predictions
