World No. 3 Alexander Zverev says he is “on the right path” heading into the US Open after leaning on friends and professional help to address mental health concerns he revealed at Wimbledon.
The German said after his first-round exit at the All England Club that he felt “alone” and “empty” and “lacking joy in everything that I do.”
The 28-year-old on Friday said that he was in a much better place as he prepares once again to vie for a first Grand Slam title in the final major of the year.
Photo: Getty Images via AFP
“Oh, I’m feeling a lot better,” Zverev said. “After Wimbledon [I] put my racket down and took extended time off and I went on holidays with my friends where I didn’t train, didn’t play tennis, didn’t do anything to what I usually do.”
“I went and had some time off. Spent a lot of time with my friends. Got professional help also, which I’m still working with now,” he said. “Yeah, I’m on the right path.”
Zverev said he could feel the difference when he returned to action at the ATP Toronto Masters and the Cincinnati Open, reaching the semi-finals at both.
“I really enjoyed the last two tournaments. I really enjoyed being back on the tennis court,” he said. “I feel like everything is going in the right direction, and I’m very happy to be here right now.”
Zverev has come up empty in three Grand Slam finals, including a loss to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.
He fell to Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s Roland Garros final and to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open this year.
“I’m looking for the last step, right,” Zverev said. “I’m looking to lift one of those above my head once. That’s what I’m looking for.”
To that end, he turned to retired Spanish great Rafael Nadal and his uncle Toni Nadal in the wake of his Wimbledon disappointment, hoping to come up with some improvements that could help him challenge top-ranked Sinner and Alcaraz.
“It’s about finding ways to beat the best players in the world, right?” Zverev said. “It’s about finding the right patterns, the right training to do that.”
“That’s why I went to see Uncle Toni and Rafa, because I wanted to see and then hear a new vision of what tennis in their mind looks like and how my tennis in their mind looks like,” he said.
“I think in tennis everybody can always improve,” Zverev said. “It’s as simple as that.”
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
RSS