Alexander Zverev reveals what's to blame for shock Olympic loss, also rips schedule

08/02/2024 09:00 PM

Alexander Zverev claimed he felt "horrible" before and during his Paris Olympics quarterfinal loss to Lorenzo Musetti as the German tennis star also revealed he was intending on doing some tests to see what it was exactly that hampered him in the French capital. 

After winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, world No. 4 Zverev kicked off his quest for back-to-back winning runs at the Olympics with three consecutive straight-set wins. But on Friday against 16th-ranked Musetti, Zverev ended up losing in two sets after the 22-year-old Italian ousted the German 7-5 7-5. 

Following the loss, Zverev blamed it on not being at his best physically and added that he was "upset" over the way his Olympics campaign came to an end. 

"I didn't feel good the whole week and the second round I felt horrible on the court after a set. Today I felt horrible by the end of the first set. It's upsetting. It's not how I physically want to be. I always took big pride in the fact that I thought I was one of the strongest physical players out there," Zverev said after the loss. 

"It definitely was not the case this week and I have to see. I'm gonna go back home and do some blood tests and see if everything is OK. And if everything is OK, then take some rest and hopefully get back in good shape."

On Wednesday evening, Zverev sealed a two-set win over Australia's Alexei Popyrin. But then, he learned that his quarterfinal match was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. And after less than 18 hours after the Popyrin match, the 27-year-old German was back on the court. 

"I'm so angry, I can't even tell you. The scheduling is a disgrace," Zverev told German daily Bild.

While Zverev was unhappy with his physical issues and also the schedule, he still gave credit to Musetti and acknowledged that the Italian outplayed him on the court. 

"Lorenzo was much better than me today, in all aspects of the game. It is upsetting when you know the Olympic Games is once every four years and that you're not 100 percent," Zverev added.

After dropping his serve in the very first game of the match, Zverev managed to get the break back in the 10th game when Musetti was serving for the first set. But just when it seemed that the momentum was changing Zverev's way, the German again lost his serve in the 11th game and this time Musetti managed to serve out for the opener in the 12th game.

In the second set, no break points were seen until the 11th game - when Musetti earned the first break point of the set and realized it to go 6-5 up. With a chance to serve out for the match, Musetti delivered and later described it as one of his "best matches" ever.

"I played probably my best level out there, probably one of my best matches of my career so far. I would love to go to the final. I don't want to think about bronze or third or fourth place because it's not the right spirit to have in such an important match as the one tomorrow," Musetti said.

When Zverev debuted at the Olympics in the summer of 2021, it was something to remember since he famously created a huge comeback win to upset Novak Djokovic in the semifinal before also beating Karen Khachanov in the final to win the gold medal. 

At the time, Zverev became the first German man to win a gold medal in tennis.

After winning a gold medal in his Olympic debut, Zverev couldn't hide his happiness and later even claimed that there "wasn't anything bigger than winning an Olympic medal."

“There is nothing better than this. I just won the Olympic Games and I think there’s nothing bigger than winning the Olympic Games. A gold medal at the Olympics, for me, the value is incredible because you’re not only playing for yourself, you’re playing for your whole country," Zverev said after winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. 

At the time, Zverev's statement drew some criticism as some had a hard time understanding how he could rate higher an Olympic gold medal than a Grand Slam title. 

And judging by his past comments, there was no doubt that Zverev entered this year's Olympics determined to repeat as champion but it didn't happen.