US Open: Alexander Zverev with a clear disadvantage against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals – the coup is still there

Alexander Zverev certainly looks back on this one day in May with mixed feelings.

Madrid is one of his favorite tournaments. He has already won the Masters competition twice. The height and the associated massive bounce of the balls on serve make it even more difficult for Zverev’s opponents in the Caja Mágica than it already was.

A few weeks later, Zverev downplayed the importance of this match at the French Open, saying that at that point he was only briefly free of pain and not yet where he needed to be to be able to offer Alcaraz a match.

The general framework conditions have improved immensely since then. However, the regenerative and physical conditions in this second Grand Slam week clearly speak for Alcaraz.

Zverev also classified the overall context of this performance, which sealed only the second win against a top 10 player in a Grand Slam. “It shows a bit that physically I’m back. I’m in the quarter-finals and I want to prepare.”

Zverev did not give the reporters many more sentences. After almost five hours on the center court and some more time for the first regenerative measures with his team after such an extreme match, Zverev dragged himself in the middle of the night to the scheduled press round, which the ATP press spokesman held in just five minutes – mind you in English and in German.

Although it didn’t rain, Alcaraz – unlike Zverev at night – played under a closed roof. The hamburger insisted on mentioning it. “Today was the hottest tournament day we had and in the afternoon they played with the roof closed. And that was a small advantage,” he said, not without a little laugh. It was the heat, but above all the extreme humidity, that “killed both of us”, he said about Sinner and himself.

“I’m someone who actually hardly sweats. Today I had to change my clothes twice and my shoes even three times,” explained Zverev when asked. Sinner cramped in the third sentence. “Then I was suddenly completely exhausted in the fourth set,” admitted Zverev.

That’s why Zverev had to work longer than he was comfortable with and than would have been necessary to create the same conditions against Alcaraz. According to his team, Zverev did not go to sleep before five o’clock on Tuesday morning local time. Accordingly, the free Wednesday was difficult in terms of rhythm. Zverev still trained. He needs the training, as he recently confessed in the podcast with Toni and Felix Kroos. Otherwise his body shuts down completely.

Despite the disadvantages, Zverev also made combative tones. “Before the tournament everyone was waiting for two games: Alcaraz against Novak (Djokovic) in the final and Alcaraz against Sinner in the quarterfinals. Maybe I can make sure that neither happens.”

When asked whether anything was still possible against Alcaraz with this preparation, Zverev finally replied, slightly annoyed: “Yes, it is.” Then he went to his physiotherapist for treatment.

Regardless of the outcome of the game on Monday, Zverev will again be among the top ten in the world rankings. A win against Alcaraz would be their first top-five win in any of the four biggest tournaments. Zverev remains playful, but also a clear outsider because of the regenerative framework conditions.

But it will certainly not be as clear as in Madrid. Zverev has worked hard to become competitive.