A furious Alexander Zverev rued his level of tennis after his quarter-final defeat to America’s Taylor Fritz, who now sets up an all-American US Open semi-final against Frances Tiafoe.
The German cut a frustrated figure as opponent Taylor Fritz shook the umpires hand, dropped off his racket, walked towards the centre of Arthur Ashe, and spread his arms wide to take in the applause.
It was Alexander Zverev’s second defeat to the American in two months, with Fritz emerging the victor in their five-set battle in the fourth round of Wimbledon.
A match bookended by two superb Fritz tie-breaks, Zverev initially levelled the match in the second set, with a smart break of serve at 3-4.
Despite two breaks each however, the result ended up the right way round, with Zverev facing 13 break points throughout the match to Fritz’s four.
It shuts the door abruptly for the German who was the highest seed remaining on that side of the draw ahead of the quarter-finals.
Alexander Zverev has ‘no words’ after blaming one shot for his US Open defeat
The French Open runner-up this year having beaten far superior opposition on his way to that stage, Zverev was tipped for another concrete chance at avenging his 2020 final defeat in New York.
However, with Fritz playing a steady and considered match, Zverev unfortunately was unable to match it.
In his US Open press conference after the match, he unloaded: “I played terrible. Just from the baseline – I mean, serving and actually returning was actually okay. From the baseline I played absolutely terrible. I don’t know.
“My backhand, I don’t remember since being on tour hitting my backhand this badly. I just don’t,” he said frankly. “I mean, I was missing shots which were in the middle of the court with no pace, and bottom of the net. Terrible. Just absolutely terrible by me.”
“My forehand was okay, actually. My serve was okay. But my most reliable shot, the shot that I’m most known for, the shot that you normally wake me up at 3 a.m. and I would not miss was absolutely not there today, and I have no words for it, to be honest.”
Alexander Zverev is his own worst critic
After his Wimbledon defeat to Fritz, former player Sam Querrey diagnosed Zverev with a kind of inherent passiveness when crunch points emerge in close matches.
It’s a theory that certainly adds up when you look at his multiple defeats in five sets at the three other majors this year.
Zverev was optimistic in his grand slam chances ahead of the US Open but suffered a wholly inevitable downfall.
The statistics however don’t tell completely the same story as Zverev, with Fritz hitting more unforced errors than the German, and of Zverev’s mistakes, more came on his forehand.
Overall errors however align with Zverev’s assessment, with 27 coming from each wing, 20 more than Fritz’s total of 34.
No doubt the German will reset, refresh, try and bid farewell to these grand slam demons – there is however only one way he will be able to convince the world they’re truly gone.
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