Everything is taken away from Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev has to give up hope of winning his first individual title this season again: The 26-year-old Olympic champion missed the semi-finals at the BMW Open in Munich in adverse conditions.

The Hamburger tried everything in his quarter-final duel against Cristian Garin – but was visibly dissatisfied with the external circumstances and had to admit defeat to the Chilean 4:6, 4:6 after exactly two hours. Garin used his second match point.

“I tried everything and tried a lot of things, he played well too, but there was nothing I could really do,” said Zverev. The conditions had robbed him of his weapons. “My power was taken away,” he explained.

Zverev, fifth in the world rankings, was chasing an early break in the first set in seven degrees and persistent drizzle and was no longer able to intercept the highly concentrated Garin, 106th in the ATP ranking and 2019 tournament winner.

He had previously given vent to his anger and targeted referee Richard Haigh. “It has been raining non-stop for three hours. And no one thinks for a second about interrupting here,” complained Zverev. When the score was 2:4 in the second set, the Olympic champion added: “I’ll give up the next two games and then I’ll be done here. This is really ridiculous. I slip with every step I take.”

Zverev received a warning because he discussed with the supervisor for too long. He fought but couldn’t find his way back into the match.

“Every single thing that I normally use to win is being taken away from me,” Zverev said, adding: “My serve, which I normally use to score a lot of points, is being taken away from me. My backhand, which causes problems for many opponents, is taken away from me – by the cold and the surface.” In such conditions, said Zverev, “I can’t win the tournament. That’s a fact.”