Zverev talks about his injury for the first time: "As if someone shoots me in the foot"

Created: 06/21/2022 05:27

By: Christoph Klaucke

Alexander Zverev reveals shocking details about his injury at the French Open.

The tennis star hopes to make a comeback at the US Open.

Munich – "Crack, crack, crack, very quickly," Alexander Zverev remembers his horrific injury at the French Open in early June.

Germany's tennis ace twisted his ankle in the semifinals against eventual champion Rafael Nadal and tore three lateral ligaments in his right ankle.

He remembered “only three sounds.

Noises that sound like something breaking.”

“Then I was in extreme pain, it was amazing.

As if someone shoots me in the foot," Zverev said in his first interview since the serious injury to

.

Zverev has not yet given up hope of making a comeback at the US Open at the end of August, but he was disappointed with one thing at the bedside.

Alexander Zverev: Tennis star talks about horror injury for the first time

The screams of the suffering Alexander Zverev must have been heard all over Paris.

The 25-year-old from Hamburg is tough.

Zverev's brother Mischa confirmed that he had never seen Sascha cry before.

"I'm actually relatively pain-free, I can deal with pain well.

But that was something completely new," explained Zverev.

“I should try to perform and keep playing.

But that didn't work.

I couldn't even move my foot, let alone stand.

I've never abandoned a game.

But this time it really didn't work anymore.” The high-class match against Rafael Nadal came to an abrupt end with the score of 6: 7, 6: 6.

Alexander Zverev screams in pain after his foot injury at the French Open.

© IMAGO/MPP/Starface

French Open: Zverev mourns the first Grand Slam title

“I was emotional then in the locker room.

It was a legendary match that would have gone mad, long remembered.

From a sporting point of view, it's a shame and very disappointing how it ended.

So there were tears of disappointment and because of the pain in the foot," said Zverev, who tragically failed on the way to his first Grand Slam title.

"The accident was very bitter because it was an amazing match," said Zverev, who felt that he could beat Nadal (overview of all winners of the French Open) if he had won the second set.

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“I would have been the favorite in the final against Casper Ruud.

So that was a missed opportunity, but I can't help it.

That wasn't my fault.

But everyone has their own path, maybe that's part of my path.” Three days after the injury, the doctor in Munich explained to him “in super slow motion what happened and when.

Then I felt sick.”

So it was disappointing for me that Sophia didn't come.

Zverev about his girlfriend Sophia Thomalla

Zverev misses girlfriend Sophia Thomalla in the sickbed

After the injury, Zverev found support from his parents.

“My father and mother were there.

I couldn't do anything on my own: take a shower, go to the toilet.

They took care of me like a little baby.

For me that was so important.

These two people helped me the most," Zverev revealed to the

.

Girlfriend Sophia Thomalla, on the other hand, was absent from the hospital bed after the operation.

“You want to be around the people you love the most at this stage.

So it was disappointing for me that Sophia didn't come.

But that's the job," said the tennis star.

Presenter Thomalla was in Greece for filming.

For this, Zverev received numerous recovery wishes, including from Boris Becker from prison.

"Dominic Thiem's ​​went to my heart.

He knows how it is and how difficult the way back will be.

His example shows that the road is not that easy.” The Austrian is currently trying to catch up with the world leaders after a complicated hand injury.

US Open: Zverev believes in a comeback in New York

On the way back, Zverev wants to go "to Klaus Eder for rehab in two or three weeks", the former physiotherapist of the German national team will then have "specialists who will ensure that I can play again as soon as possible." With one Returning to the tour, Zverev, who is currently still wearing a cast and splints, does not want to put himself under pressure.

"But I won't be one who plays immediately if he's ready for it the first second.

If I play the US Open, it's not for a round or two, but to win it," explained Zverev.

“I won't come back until I'm in this shape.

I don't know if it will be the US Open, because I have to play one or two tournaments before that.

But I haven't checked off New York yet."