"I'm not sure what happened": Alexander Zverev makes worrying fitness admission ahead of Cincinnati Open semifinal

Germany’s Alexander Zverev has made a worrying admission about his fitness ahead of the Cincinnati Open semifinal. The 28-year-old is going through a rough season. After losing in the first round at Wimbledon earlier this year, Zverev admitted struggling with mental health issues. Those admissions made headlines as they came from someone who at the start of the year featured in the final of the Grand Slam.

Since making that admission, Zverev has managed to turn the tide around, slowly but surely. He is currently taking part in the Cincinnati Open, where he managed to secure a spot in the last-four, beating America’s Ben Shelton in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2.

Talking right after the, Zverev admitted that he is not feeling ‘too great’. Zverev stated that he started to feel uncomfortable at the end of the first set and that his situation worsened as time went on. Zverev also highlighted that he was ‘feeling the ball’ well on both sides of the court and vowed to do all in his power to become fit ahead of the last-four clash.

"I'm not feeling too great right now. I have a day to get fresh and hopefully feel 100 per cent again,” said Zverev. “We will see. I'm not sure what happened. I stepped onto the court today and felt the best in a few months. I was feeling the ball incredibly well from both sides. But I started feeling not so great at the end of the opening set, and things got progressively worse. I will do everything to be at my best tomorrow.”

Zverev has a good record in semifinals in 2025. This year, Zverev has featured in five semifinals and won three of them. His most recent appearance in the semifinal of a competition was at the Canadian Open, where he lost to Russia’s Karen Khachanov with a score of 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.

Zverev’s next opponent will be the world number two, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard cemented his spot in the last four of the competition after securing a hard-fought win against Russia’s Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. It will be the 12th meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous 11 meetings, Zverev had a slight advantage as he came out on top on six occasions.

Interestingly, this will be the first time Zverev and Alcaraz will face off in a tennis match in 2025. Their most recent meeting came during the ATP Finals in Turin last year, where Zverev came out on top in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-4. The most encouraging aspect for Zverev going into the match on Saturday will be his record against Alcaraz while playing on the court. In seven meetings on different kinds of hard courts, Zverev came out on top on five occasions and suffered just a couple of defeats.

Alcaraz spoke to the media after the match and stated that he is happy to get past Rublev, who gave him a tough time on the court. Alcaraz also highlighted the challenging ‘conditions’ and stated that he was ‘proud’ of his effort in the match.

“It’s just [about] accepting the moment, accepting that I am playing a third set, accepting that it’s going to be a really tough battle, and I love that,” said Alcaraz. “It was extreme conditions, but I just love playing in front of this energy. I am just really happy to live these kinds of experiences, so I just remind myself of that in these moments. I maintained positive thoughts all the time, even though I lost focus a few times during the second set. Playing someone like Andrey, when you lose focus on two or three points, it [can] cost you the set or almost the match. I just stayed strong mentally and that’s what I’m most proud of.”