There are not many players who can give a run for the money to Rafael Nadal while playing on clay. At the semifinal of the 2022 Roland Garros, Alexander Zverev was able to do it. In three hours and 13 minutes of absorbing action with the match score reading 6-7(8), 6-6 in favor of Nadal, the fans saw some brilliant tennis from both players.
However, at that stage, Zverev rolled his ankle and was seen withering in pain, which forced him to withdraw. The German had to undergo surgery, which kept him out of action for a few months before he returned back to tour.
Zverev recalled his epic match against Nadal, which he could not complete, and stated he had the belief to compete against the Spaniard as he was playing at a very high level.
“I went into that match, and I had the belief that I can compete, and played with it,” Zverev told ATPTour.com last month. “That match was starting to get better and better, and my tennis started to get better and better, so it was a bit of an unfortunate time for me to get injured because I really felt like I was on top of my game.”
In fact, Zverev was leading by 4-2 in the first set but the veteran Nadal made a resounding comeback into the contest.
“I was playing extremely well,” recalled Zverev. “I felt the ball from both sides, I was playing aggressively. It’s tough to pick one [specific] thing [I did well], but I think we were both at the top of our game.
“It was definitely quite difficult, physically. Especially some points in the second set. I think we were both tired. I did feel OK [just before] the injury happened, though. I was feeling like I was still able to compete, I was still able to run to all the things but of course, we had to maybe play three more sets. So of course, the match would have been very, very difficult, and physically as well.”
The German added that one must have the belief to topple players like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as these two will not give you an inch on the court.
“You know it’s nearly impossible to win against him but still, in your mind, you need to believe that,” said Zverev. “If you go on the court against Rafa, or against Novak [Djokovic] for instance, and you’re thinking that you’re not going to win, you might as well just stay home.”
Zverev bested Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the fourth round of the ongoing Roland Garros and he will take on Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the quarters on Wednesday.
