Hard work starts now for Tokyo medal hopeful Zverev
Every facet of Alexander Zverev’s game is firing in Tokyo, but the Olympic No. 4 seed knows the real test of his medal-chasing mettle starts now, having booked his place in the men’s singles third round with a 6-2 6-2 win over Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan.
Zverev picked up where he left off against Chinese Taipei’s Yen-hsun Lu – who heads into retirement after contesting his fifth Olympics – with a supercharged all-court display on Centre Court at Ariake Tennis Park, firing 17 winners and restricting his opponent to just three en route to a comfortable 70-minute victory.
“I played well, and I felt quite good on court, but I know the matches and opponents get tougher from now,” Zverev said. “I’ve got to play the same way and maybe compete even better. Some of the guys won’t let me play as well. That’s what the top guys do – they always find a way to disturb your rhythm a little bit. But yeah, today I had a good rhythm.
“Maybe he was a bit nervous, came out and didn’t know what to expect too much. From the first point on I thought – and this is the most important for me – I need to focus on myself. I know that I have quite a big game, I know I can hit winners, I can overpower people, and when I’m doing that, things work out well for me.”
Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, a 6-4 3-6 6-4 winner over Italian No. 13 seed Lorenzo Sonego, awaits Zverev in the third round, while the world No. 5 is also still active in the doubles draw, partnering Jan Lennard Struff against French duo Jeremy Chardy and Gael Monfils in the second round.
It’s a fine start to his Olympic debut – and while he was open about his frustrations at missing out on the chance to check out other sports and support his compatriots, Zverev in enjoying his Olympic experience and admits he would relish the chance to finish with a medal.
“It means a lot, to be honest,” he said of the notion of reaching the podium. “You’re not only playing for yourself, you’re playing for your whole country, for everybody that is watching in Germany, and the other athletes here.
“I’m having a lot of fun, because I meet athletes I see on TV all the time, and some of the guys even come up to me themselves to say they watched this match or that match, and I tell them it’s funny because I’ve been a fan of theirs for multiple years!
“We’re living in a room with six people, but it’s all part of it, and I think everybody’s enjoying it a lot. We are all welcoming our medallists into our house, so that would be quite a special feeling.”