The 2023 Australian Open continues to impress. Many tennis players from among the favorites did not even reach the third round. In men, the fight for the trophy has already been completed by the first and second seeded Rafael Nadal and Kasper Ruud, having lost their chances for leadership in the rankings at the end of the tournament.

It was not possible to advance far along the grid and the German with Russian roots, Alexander Zverev. The former second racket of the world did not help even a happy omen.

The bird showed enviable accuracy, which cannot be said about Alexander.

Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.com

Alexander Zverev dropped out of the men’s tennis elite due to a serious injury received in the Roland Garros 2022 semi-finals with Rafael Nadal. He tore ligaments in his ankle, which forced him to undergo surgery and miss the rest of the season. According to Alexander, he had to learn to walk again.

As a result, Sasha dropped to 13th position in the ATP rankings and is in dire need of points. At the Australian Open, he started with a tough win over Peruvian lucky loser Juan Pablo Patino-Samudio, beating the world No. 108 in only five games. The rival in the second round, American Michael Mmo, looked a little more dangerous for Zverev, although he also got into the main draw only thanks to the refusal of one of the competitors.

Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.com

Alexander was able to take the first set in a tie-break, but then gave up three games in a row and covered his racket. The Olympic champion and two-time winner of the ATP Finals was consistently late to the ball and made too many unforced errors. Experiencing problems on his serve, Zverev used break points inefficiently, realizing only three chances to take the opponent’s serve out of ten.

Interestingly, in the middle of the second set, especially superstitious fans of the German were sure of his victory. When Alexander led 7:6, 2:2 and served, a bird flying over the court shat right on his head. The tennis player smiled and took a towel to clean up the incident. After a pause, Zverev continued to serve, but soon lost the initiative. The sign, which is considered lucky, did not bring good luck to Alexander.

However, Zverev did not attribute the defeat to the tricks of the bird, but explained not the best game by his own condition, which is still far from ideal.

– The foot is healthy, but I’m not at the physical level that I was before. The speed is not the same. Physical fitness is not so good. But in recent weeks I have steadily added, and for me it is very good, – said Zverev.

Considering that Zverev reached the fourth round at the last Australian Open, his position in the ranking will soon worsen. However, now it is much more important for a tennis star to regain former condition as soon as possible in order to be competitive again.