Tennis player Alexander Zverev had to end his hopes of a third tournament victory at the Masters in Madrid early. The Olympic champion somewhat surprisingly lost his round of 16 match on Tuesday against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 3:6, 4:6. The 27-year-old won the clay court tournament in the Spanish capital in 2018 and 2021 and had already reached the quarter-finals five times.
Zverev didn’t play with enough variety to put the tactically disciplined Cerundolo in more trouble in the first direct duel. Two breaks were enough for the Argentine to make it 5:3 (first set) and 2:1 (second set) to secure his place in the top eight after an hour and a half. There the 25-year-old will meet Taylor Fritz from the USA.
After the game, Zverev appeared perplexed in the Sky interview. “I don’t really understand it at the moment because the shots weren’t that bad,” said Zverev: “It’s confusing for me when I have the ball in my racket like that, when I’m serving at 227 km/h and then Lose 3:6, 4:6. I haven’t had that in a long time.”
Zverev has lost three of his seven matches so far in this year’s clay court season. The Hamburg native doesn’t have much time left until the French Open in Paris, which begins on May 26th, to get into title shape.
In the afternoon, Zverev’s Davis Cup teammate Jan-Lennard Struff also has a chance of reaching the quarter-finals. However, the winner of the ATP tournament in Munich has to defeat the Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz.