Alexander Zverev admits he is not expecting to play his best tennis right from the jump but remains hopeful that he will quickly find his top game. After undergoing a knee surgery in the summer of 2016, Roger Federer returned by winning the 2017 Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal, who missed almost the entire second half of the 2021 season due to a foot injury, captured the Australian Open title at the start of the 2022 season. Zverev, who is playing exhibitions this December, is hoping to have a similar comeback process to the one Federer and Nadal had in the past.
Zverev hoping to emulate Federer, Nadal
“I don’t have any [goals], I just want to have fun. That’s the first goal. For me, it’s still a process. I still have to come back 100%. It’s not like after an injury you’re healthy and you play the same way you did before.
That doesn’t work. People always say that when Rafa or Roger come back, they are back at 100%. But that’s not quite true either. Rafa came back last year and I think he lost to everybody at the Abu Dhabi exhibition. Then he came back at the Australian Open, won the tournament and played the best tennis of his life.
It was the same with Roger at the Hopman Cup. He lost to me and didn’t play that well against other players. He found his form at the Australian Open. I hope it will be a similar process with me, that I won’t play my best tennis right away, of course,” Zverev told Eurosport.
After this week’s Diriyah Tennis Cup, Zverev plans to compete at the inaugural World Tennis League in December between 19-24 December. In the same interview, Zverev admitted he doubts he will play his best in Dubai but added he is hopeful he will at least be close to his best in Australia.
