Andrea Petkovic has told Ubitennis that Alexander Zverev wants to show that his French Open triumph was not a fluke, but she believes he doesn’t need to prove anything at Wimbledon.
The second-seeded German moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(6) win over Jiri Lehecka in a two-day tie. Their clash began last night but got suspended due to the tournament’s 11pm curfew. This year is Zverev’s best run at Wimbledon and is a polar opposite to last year, when he crashed out in the first round.
Zverev’s breakthrough occurred during a strong season in which he won his first Grand Slam title in Paris. He was also runner-up at the Madrid Masters and a semi-finalist at the Australian Open.
“He’s playing amazing. I think it’s one of the best seasons he’s ever played,” Petkovic told Ubitennis on Tuesday morning.
“Maybe he’s had more titles in other seasons, but tennis-wise, I think he’s in the best shape he’s ever been in.
“He’s playing so aggressively. He has really added new elements to his game. It’s just mesmerising to watch him transform his game in that kind of way.”
Petkovic is a former world No.9 who reached the semi-finals of the 2014 French Open, as well as the quarter-finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open during her career. She was a seven-time winner on the WTA Tour. In 2017, she played alongside Zverev in the Hopman Cup.
Zverev is bidding to end his country’s 35-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon. The last to do so was Michael Stich in 1991, who won an all-German final against Boris Becker. There is also the added expectation placed upon him to go deep in the draw following his French Open success.
“He wants to show and prove to everybody that this was not a one-off fluke,” Petkovic explains.
“I see him being very focused on what he wants to do here and playing really well.
“But on the other hand, I don’t think he has to prove anything to anybody. He’s done so well. One of the best three or four players in the world for years and years. That is so much more worth it to me than a Grand Slam.
“I know for him it’s important to have this major title, but I think everything that he’s done in his career is already enough to not have to prove anything to anyone anymore.”
As for whether Petkovic can relate to the pressure of having to follow up a strong Grand Slam performance at the next one, she explains that it was a very different scenario for her. She lost in the third round at Wimbledon after reaching the semi-final in Paris a few weeks earlier.
“I was in the semifinals as the French and then came here (to Wimbledon). I never liked playing on grass, so I never expected much of myself,” she explains.
“I did feel a little more pressure, I would say, in the next Grand Slams after that semifinal run.
“But he (Zverev) seems to have found more freedom rather than pressure, so that’s good for him. He’s also smarter than me.”
