ATP Masters Indian Wells: Alexander Zverev has a score to settle
Alexander Zverev meets Tommy Paul after a bye in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. Zverev has lost the only comparison with the American so far.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Mar 13, 2022, 11:39 am
Ah, yes - another Acapulco reference. The Mexican holiday metropolis has played a prominent role in Alexander Zverev's recent past, which is ultimately due to the very mild freak out in doubles alongside Marcelo Melo, which was sanctioned by the ATP. In the long term, Zverev has a warm, almost passionate love relationship with Acapulco, outside of Germany he actually experiences the greatest support from the ranks there. Not even Monte Carlo can keep up. Maybe also because it's teeming with local tax heroes.
But back to Acapulco: The only duel between Alexander Zverev and Tommy Paul has taken place there so far, the second will take place late this evening in Indian Wells and thus at breakfast time in Central European regions. And Zverev will be warned, because Paul won this encounter in two sentences a little more than two years ago, quite humorlessly.
Zverev 2022 in the Montpellier final
Zverev and Paul are not even five weeks apart when it comes to their date of birth, but when it comes to success on the ATP tour, they are worlds apart. Born in Hamburg, he will celebrate his 20th success on the ATP tour with the next title, the most recent was at the ATP Finals in Turin. A few days earlier, Paul had also written. However, for the first time and three floors lower, namely at the 250 in Stockholm. The starting position in the duel between the two 24-year-olds is therefore clear.
However: Zverev's season record so far doesn't look that brilliant after the grandiose end of the season in 2021, at least not for a man who actually wanted to lay claim to the tennis throne. At the ATP Cup in Sydney, Zverev beat Cameron Norrie and Taylor Fritz, but lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime. Germany didn't make it to the semifinals. At the Australian Open, Zverev had a very modest day against Denis Shapovalov in the round of 16, losing in three sets.
The spontaneous appearance in Montpellier almost ended with the tournament victory, Alexander Bublik had something against it. After that, Zverev struggled against Jenson Brooksby in Acapulco in round two before he was also expelled from the singles grid after his escapade.
Paul loses to Nadal
The fact that Alexander Zverev was able to win two victories for the German Davis Cup team in Rio de Janeiro a week ago helped the national team just as much as Zverev himself. Because he took a little match practice with him, albeit on ashes.
Tommy Paul was also active in the Davis Cup, adding a point to America's advancement with a two-set win over Nicolas Mejia. Can Paul Alexander Zverev annoy a second time? Little suggests that. The American has already reached three quarterfinals this year, most recently in, well, Acapulco. However, after a hopeless first and very inspired second set against Rafael Nadal, it was over there.
Here the individual tableau in Indian Wells
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