Alexander Zverev described his performance in Tuesday’s US Open quarter-final loss to Taylor Fritz as “absolutely terrible”.
The fourth-ranked German was runner-up in 2020 and was bidding to reach a third semi-final at the tournament and ninth at all the Grand Slams.
However, his dream of finally going on to capture a maiden Slam title was destroyed by US 12th seed Fritz in a 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) defeat.
“I did nothing to deserve to win. It’s as simple as that,” said the crestfallen German. “Terrible. Just absolutely terrible by me.”
Zverev bemoaned the failure of his backhand which he considers to be his signature stroke.
“Normally wake me up at 3:00 a.m. and I still would not miss,” said the player who finished his tournament with 78 unforced errors on his backhand, more than any of the quarter-finalists.
“At some point I didn’t know what to do anymore. At some point I just had so many questions in my mind,” said Zverev.
“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.”
Zverev is rapidly becoming the nearly man of Grand Slam tennis.
He squandered a two-set lead to lose the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem.
At the French Open in June this year, he led Carlos Alcaraz by two sets to one before losing another five-set final.
Asked whether Tuesday’s setback had left him feeling frustrated that an opportunity had been lost in a tournament where both Novak Djokovic and Alcarez exited in the first week, he admitted he was “the most angry in a long time”.
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