Alexander Zverev hit the clay court in Monte Carlo after poor USA campaign
At the end of 2018, the young German Alexander Zverev stood at the top of the tennis world following his triumph at the ATP Finals in London where he defeated Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to secure the tenth and the biggest ATP title in a career so far. As it turned out, that was the last title for the world no. 3 so far, struggling to find the form in 2019 and leaving March with a mediocre 10-4 score after the opening three months of the season. Zverev had a solid Hopman Cup campaign, losing in the title match to Roger Federer and Switzerland just like in 2018 and suffering two minor injuries within a few days after that to raise questions over the Australian Open campaign that he had to end in the fourth round against Milos Raonic.
The Canadian dominated against the younger rival all the time and it was another Grand Slam setback for the player who has won three Masters 1000 titles so far but managed to advance into only one quarter-final at the biggest tennis stage. Following two Davis Cup wins over Hungary, Sascha took a break and returned in Acapulco where he played well until the final where Nick Kyrgios toppled him 6-3, 6-4 to steal the title and leave the German empty-handed. Playing sick at Indian Wells, Zverev passed the first obstacle when Martin Klizan retired but he lost the very next match against Jan-Lennard Struff, heading to Miami where the Spanish veteran David Ferrer took him down in three sets after a slow start.
Zverev headed back to home at Monte Carlo where he already started to train on clay, preparing for the third Masters 1000 event of the season and hoping for a much better run than in the first part of the season. Last year, Zverev was the semi-finalist in Monte Carlo, losing to Kei Nishikori in three sets and looking forward to going at least one step further in a couple of weeks, seeking some much-needed form and points before Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros where he has to defend a lot of points.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2FIJqRt
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