Alexander Zverev opened up about the terrible injury he suffered during the 2022 French Open semifinals against Rafael Nadal.
The 2022 season was one of the toughest in the German's career. He had a strong campaign at Roland Garros, reaching the semifinals after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals and entered the semifinals with the intention of challenging the multi-time champion Rafael Nadal.
Zverev lost the first set in a closely contested tiebreak and reached the tie-break of the second set in a match where 'Sascha' played toe-to-toe with Nadal and had a good chance of winning. However, a severe ankle injury during that tie-break led him to end his season in early June and undergo ankle surgery.
The former world No. 2 shared in an interview on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast the difficult moments he went through after the injury:
“I think you really appreciate the sport of tennis. You really appreciate the tough days, the fun days. You just appreciate being out there on the court, when it gets taken away from you. Most players realise that once they quit tennis because they don’t have this period, this injury. I realised it earlier on, so I’m thankful for that, but I want to get back to where I was," Zverev said.
“I didn’t want the injury to happen, obviously, but it did make me grow, it did make me realise what tennis actually means. If I’m back to the level, if I win Grand Slams and become World No. 1, maybe I’ll look back and say ‘It was all worth it,’" he added.
This year, his comeback has been on the rise, and he has already returned to the top 10. Furthermore, he currently sits at 7th in the ATP Race. While he doesn't have his spot in the Finals secured, Zverev maintains good chances of qualifying for the tournament for the sixth consecutive time. He has previously won the title twice (in 2018 and 2021):
"If I make Turin, if I come back after such an injury and not playing for seven months when I was really uncertain if I was ever going to come back to the level that I was… If I come back and I’m one of the best eight players in the world, it’s a great achievement, there’s no question about it. It’s a comeback year to remember, that’s for sure," Zverev said.
“I think for me it’s just being healthy. I think at the beginning of the year I was still managing pain, I was still dealing with pain. I was not moving the way I wanted to move, I was not sliding around the court, if you look back at the matches that I played. It was more that for me
“If you want to be competitive at this sport you have to be 100 per cent healthy, you need to be moving the way you want to on the tennis court. For me to be able to do that, I need to be pain-free."
Zverev says his brutal injury against Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros made him grateful: “After an injury like that, you really appreciate the hard days, the fun days. You enjoy being on the court. Most players realize this once they stop playing tennis because they have not…
