Tennis tournament in Halle
At a loss, Zverev misses the final at home
Status: 24.06.2023 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Alexander Zverev at the post-match press conference
Quelle: Getty Images/Thomas F. Starke
Alexander Zverev wanted to get to the final of the lawn tournament in Halle. In the semifinals, however, the German tennis pro has to bow to his opponent’s aces. He can only blame himself, says Zverev afterwards.
Alexander Zverev was just at a loss. “I don’t know what I should have done differently today,” said Zverev after his semi-final defeat at the tennis tournament in Halle, Westphalia. The Olympic champion lost to Kazakh Alexander Bublik 3:6, 5:7 on Saturday and has to wait for his first title in the German grass classic. In 2016 and 2017 Zverev lost in the final in Halle, but this time he was far from it.
Bublik, who played almost flawlessly, converted his first match point after 1:27 hours. “He just played incredibly well,” said Zverev. For the native of Hamburg, however, it was good preparation for Wimbledon. The third Grand Slam tournament of the season begins on July 3rd: “I’m very happy with the level I’m playing at the moment.”
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From the start, Zverev had great problems finding his rhythm in the almost sold-out arena. Bublik served impressively strong and served seven aces in the first set. In the end there were 14. In addition, the Kazakh repeatedly lured Zverev, who was often a little further behind the baseline, to the net with perfectly played stops, in order to then pass him or score points with a lob.
Zverev improved in the second set
“It’s a bit of a coin toss with him which foot he gets up on. He can get up tomorrow and serve over 30 aces. But he can also serve 20 double faults,” Zverev had said about his opponent in advance. Unfortunately, from the German’s point of view, Bublik got off on the right foot and had a great day. To make it 3-1, he took the serve from Zverev and got the first round after 35 minutes. “The way I lost my serve in the first set is the only thing I can really blame myself for,” said Zverev.
Alexander Bublik hit 14 aces
Source: dpa/Friso Gentsch
He remained surprisingly calm after losing his first set of the tournament. The 26-year-old improved in the second set and tried to fight his way into the game. When the score was 3:2, the crowd favorite earned his first ever breakball, but Bublik fended it off in a spectacular way. Instead, the Kazakh made the decisive break to make it 6:5 and ultimately deservedly made it into the final.
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There it is either against the Russian Andrei Rublev or Roberto Bautista Agut from Spain. “The job isn’t done yet. I try to stay focused. But of course I’m very happy with my performance today,” said Bublik.
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