Wimbledon 2021: Alexander Zverev - out without announcement
The elimination of Alexander Zverev in the round of 16 of the Wimbledon tournament in 2021 against Félix Auger-Aliassime came as surprising as it is annoying from the German point of view.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Jul 06, 2021, 08:00 am
Félix Auger-Aliassime didn’t quite give the Björn Borg from 1980 at Wimbledon early on Monday evening, but the Canadian made his five-set win against Alexander Zverev worth it. On the one hand, because Auger-Aliassime had just made it clear for the first time to make it into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament. On the other hand, because he probably did not expect to leave the court as the winner in the fourth comparison with Zverev for the first time. Because in the previous duels with the German number one, Auger-Aliassime had no assignment.
Which actually also applied to the second game on Court 1 on this last Manic Monday in history. Because, although Auger-Aliassime had a very good and above all highly constant performance over five sentences, the conclusion must be drawn: Alexander Zverev lost this match rather than Félix Auger-Aliassime won. In the first three sets, Zverev was in the lead with a break, given the strength of the Hamburg-born serve, one might have assumed that this would be enough for safe progress.
Zverev makes 20 double mistakes
But this serve strength is sometimes a very fleeting matter, 20 double errors for Zverev were at the end of the more than four-hour break. And these mistakes came in different facets and tempos, sometimes blasted with what felt like 300 km / h, sometimes pushed into the net with what appeared to be the last of their strengths. Of course, Auger-Aliassime didn’t refuse with thanks, but rather grabbed his chance. And with fine variations, such as the backhand stop, playful highlights are also set.
For Alexander Zverev, however, when it comes to Grand Slam success, it means waiting. These days it is already difficult enough to win one of the four big titles in tennis, Novak Djokovic hovers above everyone and everything, seems miles away from the competition. Basically, Zverev is one of those who have caused problems for the Serbian grandmaster in the past, including in finals. Zverev had to say goodbye to this idea on Monday, which is annoying in that he performed very confidently in the first three games despite losing a set against Taylor Fritz. The fact that he saw himself "not even close to the Grand Slam level" at the press conference speaks for Zverev's self-critical assessment. Even if, from an objective point of view, it ultimately only stuck to a few points.
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Auger-Aliassime now against Berrettini
The next big goal is now the Olympics, you should definitely not bet against a medal from Alexander Zverev. The best-of-three format is better for the German number one, and Tokyo is doing it. It speaks for Zverev that, as a great traditionalist of tennis, he has repeatedly spoken of maintaining the format with three winning sets. The next chance for Grand Slam honors will come from the end of August in New York City, where Alexander Zverev was only two points away from the US Open triumph last fall.
Félix Auger-Aliassime continues against Matteo Berrettini. He played the final against him in Stuttgart in 2019 - and, almost of course, lost. "FAA" is still waiting for its first championship, regardless of the tournament category. Perhaps it helps that the encounter with co-favorite Berrettini came about in the round of the last eight, and in the event of a win, a semi-final against Roger Federer would not be ruled out. And Félix Auger-Aliassime defeated him only a few days ago in HalleWestfalen.
Here the single tableau in Wimbledon
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