World number four Alexander Zverev is looking to take a relaxed approach to the first grand slam of the year as he plays down his ankle injury.
The 21 year-old heads into the Australian Open with a lot of pressure on his shoulders by others having yet to make a grand slam semi-final.
However ahead of the opening grand slam of the year Zverev doesn’t see it that way and is looking to copy the same approach that won him the ATP Finals in London, “I came to London before, and I wasn’t playing my best,” Zverev said in his press conference.
“I came to London saying, ‘Look, it’s the last tournament of the year, we’re all tired, you want to go on holidays. I want to enjoy it as much as I can. I’m playing the best players in the world, I’m going to see how it goes.’
“At the end of the week, I won the tournament. I learned out of that – I kind of figured out I have to have the same mentality when I play at Slams. I hope I can achieve that.”
It is a relaxed and risky approach from Zverev who has a favourable draw in Melbourne as he takes on Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in the first round.
However this approach has looked more sensible over the last few days after the German fell over his ankle during a practice match a couple of days ago.
The German said the ankle is swollen but is not expected to get worse ahead of his match on Tuesday, “The ankle is fine,” he insisted.
“It’s just a little bit swollen. I didn’t actually twist it, I just kind of went over it a little bit. A bone pushed against another bone; there was inflammation between those two bones. I’m fine.”
Those injuries are not ideal for Zverev who is looking to make the second week in Melbourne for the first time in his career.
However if the ATP Finals proved anything its that when Zverev is underestimated and relaxed he performs at his best as he can deliver on the big occasions.
