Alexander Zverev’s preparation for the French Open hasn’t gone to plan, with the German revealing he has been ill after suffering a surprise exit from the Hamburg Open in his native Germany.
Zverev was the top seed in Hamburg, a tournament he won in 2023 before reaching the final 12 months later. However, in this year’s edition, France’s Alexandre Muller knocked him out in the second round 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5). To make the loss even more frustrating, he had a 5-3 lead in the decisive tiebreaker before losing four points in a row.
Following the defeat, Zverev confirmed he had been suffering from a fever and sickness. Stating that he was ‘proud’ that he still played the match.
“For the fact that I threw up 37 times and had a fever of 39.4 degrees all night, that’s actually quite okay,” he said in a joking manner.
“I think there are two players in the whole world who would have taken to the court today. I’m one of them. And I’m really proud of that.”
“I was two points away from winning the match. There’s a lot to be said in my favour.
“I think I played a solid and good match. But he realised at some point that I wasn’t feeling well and then went on playing the points for as long as possible. That was clever on his part.”
Since the Miami Open, Zverev has won 11 out of 15 matches played on the clay. During this period, his best performance was winning the BMW Open in Munich. He also reached the fourth round of the Madrid Open and the quarter-finals of the Italian Open.
Despite being unwell, the world No.3 is confident that it will have no impact on how he prepares for the French Open. He reached the final in Paris 12 months ago before losing to Carlos Alcaraz. Zverev also reached the semi-finals three years in a row between 2021 and 2023.
“I’ll get healthy first and then see,” he said.
“But nothing will change for me for Paris. I still want to show good tennis there and win a lot of matches.”
Zverev, who is a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, is chasing his first major title. So far in his career, he has won eight ATP 250s, six 500s, seven Masters 1000s, two ATP Finals and an Olympic gold medal.
The French Open will begin on Sunday.
