German tennis ace Alexander Zverev was frustrated with himself after he missed out on another chance to make it count at a Grand Slam. With Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz eliminated early, Zverev fancied his chances to win his maiden Major at the 2024 US Open. However, he got knocked out in the quarterfinals after losing to Taylor Fritz in four sets.
Although Zverev fought hard, he could not get past the American. After the match, he called his gameplay terrible and claimed that he did nothing to deserve a win. Zverev was most frustrated at not getting his most reliable shot, the backhand, right.
I played terrible. Just from the baseline - I mean, serving and actually returning was actually okay. From the baseline I played absolutely terrible. I don't know. My backhand, I don't remember since being on tour hitting my backhand this badly. I just don't. I mean, I was missing shots which were in the middle of the court with no pace, and bottom of the net. Terrible. Just absolutely terrible by me.Alexander Zverev said at a press conference
Fritz beat Zverev 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in three hours and 26 minutes on Tuesday (September 3) to reach his maiden Grand Slam semifinal.
Alexander Zverev admits to being clueless during the defeat to Taylor Fritz
Alexander Zverev admitted that he was clueless about his shot selection during his defeat to Taylor Fritz. The German was angry about nothing going his way and missing regular baseline shots.
I mean, at some point I didn't know what to do anymore. At some point I just had so many questions in my mind. I had absolutely no idea whether I should go for it, whether I should put the ball on the court. Then I tried to put the ball on the court, it would go bottom of the net. A few shots I went for it, they flew -- the thing is, I was missing shots, I was missing by, like, six feet, regular baseline shots.Alexander Zverev said at a press conference
Zverev, however, clarified that he did not want to take anything away from Fritz. He hailed the American for being the deserving winner while cursing himself for his performance. The World No. 4 entered the tournament with high hopes and after two of the top three seeds – Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz – suffered early exits, the German was tipped to capitalize on that.
The 27-year-old started his campaign with a win over compatriot Maximilian Marterer. He then took down Alexandre Muller and Tomas Martin Etcheverry in subsequent rounds and got past Brandon Nakashima in the fourth round. However, his run was cut short by Fritz in the quarterfinals.
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