In 2018, Alexander Zverev was building on his breakout season the year prior, when he claimed his first two Masters 1000 crowns.
The German reached a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2018 French Open, and added another big ATP title to his name at the Madrid Open.
His North American hard-court swing that year got underway at the Canadian Open, where he was the reigning champion, but his title defence ended abruptly at the hands of Stefanos Tsitsipas.
In the quarterfinal, Tsitsipas was trailing 6-3, 5-3 as Zverev went to serve it out for the match, but, in an incredible comeback, the Greek star emerged victorious.
Alexander Zverev’s reaction to his failed 2018 Canadian Open title defence
The fallen second seed was agitated when facing the media after his defeat, and felt his conqueror didn’t do much better than him throughout the match.
“He started putting some balls into the court,” Zverev responded when asked in his post-match press conference what changed as he was attempting to close out the contest in the second set.
“I think before he was playing really bad. And I actually thought I was playing bad the whole match.
“So I lost a little bit of concentration. I lost a little bit of rhythm, but it wasn’t — I mean, even if I would have won, it wasn’t a good match.
“As I said, I don’t think today he played that well. I think the match was absolutely pathetic on all levels.
“You know, returning, he started to return. I mean, he was serving 125’s to my backhand, and I was missing them. That does not happen.
“I mean, I’m very honest with you guys. I always say when the opponent play better. I’m probably one of the most honest guys on tour. Today was a pathetic match from — I don’t even think he played well.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ response to Alexander Zverev’s comments
When told about the comments Zverev had made, Tsitsipas said: “Yeah, I heard that.
“I’m working with a sports psychologist that’s really good. And he told me that a good player can be seen in his bad day. And I completely agree with that.
“The level of tennis today, in my opinion, was not the highest. It was all right. People seemed to love it, love the show and everything.
“I would say I played okay. He seemed — I don’t know.
“I would say I played more clever. I kind of fooled him when I was on the court and did some things that he didn’t expect me to do.
Tsitsipas went on to reach the final of the Canadian Open that year, but ultimately lost to Rafael Nadal.
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