Alexander Zverev is looking to defend his Olympic gold at Paris 2024 – but could an injury potentially hinder his chances?
Alexander Zverev has been battling away in 2024, most notably reaching the final of the French Open where he agonizingly lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets.
Just a month later at Wimbledon, he came undone by Taylor Fritz who battled back from two sets down to progress and frustrate the towering German’s dodgy five-set record again and irritate his injured knee further.
With a return to clay ahead of Paris 2024, the German has looked in good form despite still donning some heavy strapping on his knee.
Alexander Zverev faces race against time to be completely fit for Paris 2024
The assured German fired 35 aces on his way to the final in Hamburg before being beaten in an entertaining but at times rather heated contest against Arthur Fils.
Speaking after his semi-final victory over Pedro Martinez, Zverev revealed further how his knee injury was progressing.
Via YouTube, he said: “For me it was more the pain. I don’t think I would have stepped on court with the pain level I was having right before the tournament.
“To be honest the risk will stay for the next two, three or four weeks. That’s how long it takes the bone to heal. That’s what everybody told me,” he continued.
“But at the same time I knew I didn’t want to rest for four or six weeks because we are playing on a surface where I don’t see that big of a risk of doing the same motion and movement again. I don’t think it’s possible.
“For me it was always about the pain and whether I could play on court freely without restricting myself too much. That wasn’t the case before the tournament.”
Can Alexander Zverev retain his Olympic title?
Zverev steamrolled to victory in Tokyo, even rallying back from a set and a breakdown against Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, before beating Karen Khachanov in straight sets to claim gold.
With the five-set format having caused more than a few notable stumbles for Zverev at grand slam level, having choked to lose the French Open final in 2024 and the US Open Final in 2020, the German will look forward to the best-of-three-sets format played at the Olympics.
With his enormous serve and consistent backhand as his two major weapons, Zverev has increasingly looked very neat and tidy on the clay and with a record of going ahead quickly, as well as facing few break-points, he’ll be keen to break his duck of losing in big finals.
Despite Alcaraz coming in as the hot favorite, as well as Djokovic looking to win his first-ever Olympic gold medal, Zverev will certainly provide a stern test for these two early front-runners.
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