Alexander Zverev confessed that his initial energy began draining away after busting out a two-set lead over Daniil Medvedev and the disappointed German fell victim to a fighback in the Australian Open semi-finals.
Zverev felt it slipping away as he lost 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3 after more than four hours of battle.
Medvedev will bid for his second Grand Slam trophy after winning the 2021 US Open when he plays Jannik Sinner on Sunday after the Italian stunned Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
“At the end of the second set I started to lose energy. I started to not feel so fresh anymore,” Zverev said.
“I got a bit sick after the Alcaraz match (quarter-finals) with a bit of fever so that
obviously didn’t help the recovery, and I did play quite a lot.
“It’s impossible to play when you’re not 100 per cent physically, because he’s literally someone that really doesn’t give you anything.”
Zverev added: “I wasn’t the same player as I was in the first two sets anymore. I was kind of just hanging on.”
But the world No. 6 will not go away totally disappointed:
“I lost because of a physical state, not because of tennis. That is, for me, disappointing.
“That’s probably the first time or one of the first times in my
career that that has happened.
“But I can be also proud of myself because I did everything I could. I did all the work in the offseason, did all the work here in Australia.
“I was focused, I was concentrated, but things happened out of
my control, in a way.”
Alexander Zverev confessed that his initial energy began draining away after busting out a two-set lead over Daniil Medvedev and the disappointed German fell victim to a fighback in the Australian Open semi-finals.
Zverev felt it slipping away as he lost 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3 after more than four hours of battle.
Medvedev will bid for his second Grand Slam trophy after winning the 2021 US Open when he plays Jannik Sinner on Sunday after the Italian stunned Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
“At the end of the second set I started to lose energy. I started to not feel so fresh anymore,” Zverev said.
“I got a bit sick after the Alcaraz match (quarter-finals) with a bit of fever so that
obviously didn’t help the recovery, and I did play quite a lot.
“It’s impossible to play when you’re not 100 per cent physically, because he’s literally someone that really doesn’t give you anything.”
Zverev added: “I wasn’t the same player as I was in the first two sets anymore. I was kind of just hanging on.”
But the world No. 6 will not go away totally disappointed:
“I lost because of a physical state, not because of tennis. That is, for me, disappointing.
“That’s probably the first time or one of the first times in my
career that that has happened.
“But I can be also proud of myself because I did everything I could. I did all the work in the offseason, did all the work here in Australia.
“I was focused, I was concentrated, but things happened out of my control, in a way.”
