There was a before and after in Alexander ZverevA stone’s throw from his first Grand Slam success, specifically in the Roland Garros semifinals, the German tennis player suffered a serious ankle injury.
Zverev explained in an exclusive interview with the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport his feelings: «I no longer have pain and so I have fun again. But since June there have been many times that it hasn’t been like that, it took me a long time to find the right sensations.
In Australia I was still very limited, the pain hadn’t gone away and I couldn’t move the way I wanted to. Now I am definitely going in the other direction and starting to enjoy my time. I no longer have the injury in mind. Until a few weeks ago, I was still getting uncomfortable signals from my foot.
I was still in pain, but now I feel quite free on the court. I thought I couldn’t go back to the way I was before? In September. I figured he was ready for the US Open: the ligaments had healed but there was bone edema that required another three months of rest.
It was mentally difficult to accept that. So I packed my bags and went on vacation, without doing any more rehabilitation. It helped me a lot, my foot needed to rest.»
Zverev’s return
After losing an incredible first set and proving he could compete on par with Rafael Nadal, Zverev attempted to recover a forehand cross but badly sprained his ankle.
Subsequently, the instrumental examinations highlighted the injury to the three lateral ligaments of the right ankle and convinced the player born in 1997 to undergo surgery. Zverev thus put an early end to his season and returned to the field directly to the United Cup at the beginning of 2023.
In the five tournaments played this year, the German has only won three games. Regaining confidence will not be easy, but Zverev will do everything he can to return to being one of the best players on Tour.
