Alexander Zverev says he is ready to bounce back at Indian Wells after suffering a disappointing run in South America where he only won back-to-back matches in one out of three tournaments played.
Zverev, who was runner-up to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open in January, lost in the second round of both the Argentina and Mexican Open. He fared slightly better in Rio de Janeiro by claiming two wins before losing in the quarter-finals to Francisco Comesana. All three of his defeats were to players ranked outside the top 20 with two of them being outside the top 50 (at the time they played).
“It was a rough South American swing for me. I got ill (food poisoning) two out of three weeks, which isn’t great,” Zverev told reporters in Indian Wells on Wednesday.
“I wanted to play that swing. I’ve heard so many great things about it, so I wanted to experience it once.
“Buenos Aires was unfortunate for me because I got food poisoning there. In Rio, I was in a winning position and it was super, super hot, super, super humid for me there. I think just difficult conditions generally.
“I also didn’t play great tennis. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do in the end, especially after reaching the finals of the Australian Open, maybe I should have stuck on hard court a little longer.”
The two-time Grand Slam finalist will be hoping for better results at Indian Wells where he is the top seed. Men’s world No.1 Sinner is currently serving a three-month suspension from the sport related to two failed anti-doping tests last year.
So far in his career, Zverev has recorded a win-loss record of 13-8 at the Masters 1000 event. He twice reached the quarter-finals in 2021 and 2024.
“I still feel positive. I still think I had a good start to the season. If you look back at Australia, I reached another Grand Slam final. But of course, I want to find my rhythm again and I want to win tennis matches again.” He said.
“Right now I feel good. It took some time, but I feel well.”
Zverev, who has a bye in the first round, will start his campaign in Indian Wells against Tallon Griekspoor. Griekspoor, who reached the semi-finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships, defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3, in his opening match.
