US Open: Alexander Zverev - Clear victories and a new passion
Alexander Zverev also impresses stars from other sports with dominant appearances in New York. Oscar Otte wants to seize the chance of his life.
by SID / red
last edit:
Sep 03, 2021, 04:52 pm
Alexander Zverev had an appointment in front of the TV the evening after his third round entry in New York. Baseball was on the program for the German top player in the hotel - after all, Francisco Lindor, star of the New York Mets, had also paid Zverev his attendance at his lesson for the Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The sport with the long racket and the much harder ball than tennis seems to be developing a little into Zverev's new passion these days. “I know Francisco, we have a little contact,” said the 24-year-old, who had already paid a visit to the Mets before the start of the US Open: “It's always interesting to get to know the mindset of other professional athletes. That's why I loved Tokyo so much. "
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Since his Olympic victory in Japan at the latest, the man from Hamburg has received more and more curious looks from top-class athletes from other sports and can increasingly inspire with his charisma on the center court. In the 6: 1, 6: 0, 6: 3 second round win against Ramos-Vinolas, the fourth in the world ranked proved the dominance of a title candidate who consistently pulls his match through to the last point.
"When I noticed that the match was going well for me, I tried to play it as quickly as possible," said Zverev, who is one of the worst - others say the worst - challenger to Novak Djokovic in Flushing Meadows. The Serbian world number one has won all Grand Slams so far this year and could become Zverev's semi-final opponent. The fact that the German saved energy in the first rounds could prove to be a real pound late in the tournament. Now it is up to him on Saturday against the former world number eight Jack Sock from the USA.
A key moment for Oscar Otte
The feeling of bowling one of the local heroes out of the competition, Zverev can be described by Oscar Otte, who, like the German top player, pushed the tube with surprising sovereignty and Denis Kudla 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 2 defeated. Now the qualifier against the experienced Italian Andreas Seppi has the chance of his previous oneTennis life - and they both know each other well.
“We played together in the Bundesliga for Rot-Weiss Köln for one or two years,” said the 28-year-old, who has reached the third round in a major for the first time and now wants even more. His success now in New York also has a lot to do with Zverev, whom he forced into a five-movement thriller at the French Open. "That was a key moment because I noticed that I can keep up with really good players," said Otte.