Alexander Zverev told reporters that he ‘played horrible’ after crashing out in the first round of the Japan Open on Monday.
Zverev, who was the the third seed in Tokyo, suffered a surprise 6-3, 6-4, loss to Jordan Thompson who is currently ranked 51 places lower than him in the ATP rankings at 60th in the world. It is the second tournament in a row that he has lost his opening match after the Shanghai Masters where he was beaten by Roman Safiullin. Although Zverev said illness played a factor in his Shanghai defeat.
“Today, I played horrible,” AFP news quoted Zverev as saying following his latest match.
“He played quite good, he served quite good but it’s just a very, very bad match for me. I don’t know what to say.”
The 26-year-old has also praised Thompson who he said ‘made it tricky’ for him. It is only the third time that the Australian has beaten a top 10 player in his career out of 19 attempts. Thompson also got the better of Stefanos Tsitsipas in Indian Wells earlier this year.
Zverev’s defeat is a blow to his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals which is an event he has won on two previous occasions. Only the eight highest-ranked players will qualify for the tournament. He is currently in seventh place but is only 450 points ahead of ninth-place Taylor Fritz who is also playing in Tokyo this week.
“It was nice to play in front of spectators but I only played one match,” said Zverev who was playing in Japan for the first time since winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I lost today so the feeling generally is not very great right now,” he added.
Elsewhere in the draw, Felix Auger-Aliassime has returned to winning ways by ousting Aleksandar Vukic 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 6-2. The Canadian has been struggling for form in recent months and has only won three out of his last 12 Tour matches played. Should he also win his next match, it will be the first time Auger-Aliassime has reached the quarter-final stage of a tournament since May.
“It is a big relief,” he said. “There have been tough times lately where I was wondering what to do. I have to keep on training and believing and hope my level will come back. I am happy to get the victory today. It is a positive.”
Awaiting the Auger-Aliassime next will be Austria’s Sebastian Ofner. Meanwhile, Thompson will face either US Open semi-finalist Ben Shelton or Taro Daniel.
Top seed Fritz and second seed Casper Ruud will both start their campaigns on Tuesday.
