(Paris) The German Alexander Zverev, seriously injured in the right ankle in the semi-finals of Roland-Garros in June, replayed for the first time Thursday during an exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia and beat Dominic Thiem.
Zverev, 12e world, won the two super tiebreakers 10/8, 10/7 against the Austrian (105e) in the first round of the Diriyah Cup in which Stefanos Tsitsipas also participates (4e), Daniil Medvedev (7e), Andrey Rublev (8e), Taylor Fritz (10e) or Nick Kyrgios (22e) notably.
The 25-year-old German, 2020 U.S. Open finalist, tore all three outer ligaments in his right ankle in the Roland-Garros semi-finals against Rafael Nadal in early June.
After the Saudi exhibition, he should return to official competition in the United Cup, the new mixed team tournament which kicks off the 2023 season from December 29 in Australia, targeting the Australian Open in Melbourne (16- January 29).
