Tennis: Zverev returns to action six months after French Open injury

PARIS - Alexander Zverev on Thursday returned to tennis for the first time since

tearing ankle ligaments in his French Open semi-final defeat by Rafael Nadal

in June.

The 25-year-old German appeared in the Diriyah Tennis Cup exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia where he defeated Austria’s Dominic Thiem in two super tiebreaks 10-8, 10-7.

“I’ve missed all this for the last seven months,” he said. “It was not an easy time for me. I’ve missed the tennis tour, the tournaments. I’ve missed interviews, I’ve really missed everything.”

World No. 12 Zverev then lost to the Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-4.

Olympic champion Zverev left Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open in June in a wheelchair, subsequently undergoing surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right ankle.

He subsequently missed Wimbledon and the US Open. A planned return at the Davis Cup in September came up short when Zverev pulled out after experiencing “extreme pain”.

He said after the Thiem match: “The injury taught me to be more patient and to appreciate the little things. When I walked for the first time, I was happy like a little kid. When I was able to walk for the first time, it felt like I had won the biggest tournament in the world.

“Things you could do all your life were suddenly special to you. That’s the huge difference between after the injury and before the injury... After the injury, I know even less about what I would do without tennis.”

It is unclear if he will be ready for the Jan 16-29 Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam, but one man who will definitely be at Melbourne Park is home favourite Nick Kyrgios.

After years of underachieving, the talented but temperamental Kyrgios won the Citi Open in Washington and reached his first Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

The 27-year-old, who won the Australian Open men’s doubles title in January with countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis, also reached the US Open quarter-finals, going down in five sets to Karen Khachanov.

His best result in the Australian Open singles tournament was a quarter-final berth in 2015.

“I completely understand going on the match court with all this expectation that ‘Nick Kyrgios (has a) legitimate chance to win a Grand Slam now’,” said Kyrgios, who lost 10-6, 10-6 to Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the first round in Riyadh. 

“There’s a lot of pressure there especially having the Australian Open and everyone in Australia expecting big things from me. It’s a lot to handle sometimes. Being in the spotlight is not easy. I feel like I’ve embraced that and I’ve taken that challenge on. It’s not easy, I’ve really worked hard to try and channel it, internalise it and use it as fuel.” AFP, REUTERS