Alexander Zverev is maintaining belief that he can defeat Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros despite his fourth round exit in Rome.
The German has had many past successes in Italy but it wasn’t to be this time as Zverev was to be outdone by home favourite Luciano Darderi.
A 1-6 7-6 6-0 victory for the Italian dashed Zverev’s hopes of more momentum heading into Roland Garros.
After the defeat Zverev blamed the court and admitted tiredness could have played a factor in the loss in Rome, “I mean, I did get tired. Whether it’s a sickness or I just played a lot of tennis… That’s one of the reasons,” Zverev told journalists on Tuesday.
“Yeah, I think I should have won the match in two sets. That’s just the story from there. Of course, the third set went for him. He played amazing tennis. I should have won the match in two sets. It was difficult to play. I mean, to be honest, the court, I think this is the worst court I’ve ever played on. Juniors, professional, futures, practice, I never played on a court where the court quality is that bad.
“I have match point and the ball jumps over my head. I have break point, the ball rolls. Like yeah… Yeah, the wind was tough. Overall, again, I just think I should have won the match in two sets. After that, yeah, he played fantastic.”
Zverev will hope to get over the defeat quickly as he bids to break his Grand Slam curse at Roland Garros.
This time there will be no Carlos Alcaraz to have to overcome with the defending champion out of the event due to a wrist injury.
However, Jannik Sinner will still be present a player that Zverev has lost to in the previous four Masters 1000 events before Rome.
The German admits that an early exit in Rome could be an blessing in disguise for him and maintains belief he can beat the Italian, “Yeah, maybe this is a bit of a blessing in a bad moment for me. I can rest and recharge and be 100% ready for the French Open,” Zverev stated.
“I can take a couple of days off. I have almost two weeks now till my next match, so yeah. I hope I can use that time. I do have to believe that I’m capable of beating him. I do have to believe it, otherwise we can just give him the trophy without playing the tournament.”
Roland Garros starts on Sunday 24th of May.
