Alexander Zverev philosphical on getting shafted by the weather
Germany’s Alexander Zverev isn’t terribly bothered by his late start to the tournament at Wimbledon.
He admitted that he was now in a position where he will target getting his matches completed as soon as possible.
Zverev and Gijs Brouwer were the last pair to hit the court for their opening round match on Thursday.
He put Brouwer away in three but needed to snatch a pair of tiebreakers to get the job done.
The 19th seed said it wasn’t worth getting caught up in the weather and things he couldn’t control.
“No, look, the tournament starts when the tournament starts. For further matches, it’s not going to be easy,” Zverev said after putting Brouwer away.
“Because big difference between here and normal tournaments is we’re playing best-of-five sets. I think if you have to play two or three or four back-to-back five-set matches, at some point it is going to get difficult physically.
“But after the first-round match, I’m not at that stage. I hope that I’ll be fine. I hope that I am physically prepared for this kind of moment. But, of course, it’s not helpful, let’s put it that way, but it is what is.
“Nobody has a magic switch for the rain, so… Nobody can do anything about that.
“Yeah, usually winning in three sets at slams is great.
“Especially in this case it’s even better for me.”
Zverev is happy with his Grand Slam fitness after his run to the last four in Paris a year on from the devastating injury that saw him miss both Wimbledon and the US Open last season.
He played 20 sets across the two weeks in Paris including a straight sets loss to Casper Ruud in the last four.
Zverev had been set to take a huge rankings hit if he couldn’t match his performance in Paris from last year but he defied expectations to make it deep into the second week.
“I mean, I proved at the French Open that my fitness is at a good stage,” Zverev said.
“I think I’m not thinking about these kind of things anymore. That’s usually a good sign, when you’re not thinking about it. It means that you’re prepared.
“For now, as I said, I played three sets. I feel pretty fresh and I feel pretty ready to go.”
Zverev is set to be pressed straight back into action on Friday, when he is scheduled to face Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki in the Wimbledon second round.
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