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Alexander Zverev staged one of the finest comebacks of his career to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals of the 2021 Western & Southern Open on Saturday.
Zverev, battling intermittent stomach problems, clawed his way back from a double break in the deciding set to book his spot in the final. Zverev trailed 4-1 40-30 in the third set, but he managed to dig deep and break the Greek, making it 4-2.
Zverev then rushed to the bathroom and even took medication for his stomach problems. Once he started feeling better, it showed on the court as he broke Tsitsipas when the Greek served for the match at 5-4 before romping home in the ensuing tiebreak.
When asked about his stomach concerns during his press conference, the German revealed that he started feeling sick during the second set, which affected his energy levels.
"Yeah, I actually started feeling not that great in middle of the second set already," Zverev said. "I felt very low energy. My stomach was swirling a little bit."
Tsitsipas also played his part in upsetting Zverev by taking an extended bathroom break after losing the opening set. The Greek walked off the court with his phone, while his father Apostolos was seen typing and speaking to someone on his mobile.
Zverev was understandably left seething and suggested to the umpire that Tsitsipas was using the break to possibly receive instructions from his father.
"Do something, go check, somebody escort him already, his dad is on the freaking phone, it's the same thing in Paris, the same thing every other tournament," Zverev could be heard saying.
When probed about the matter during his press conference, the Olympic champion answered diplomatically, praising Tsitsipas' performance, the crowd, and the overall quality of the match.
"Yeah, I mean, it was a very dramatic match against one of the best players in the world this year," the German went on. "I think Stef has been playing incredible tennis and is on an incredible level. I feel like the match that we put on today, without a crowd, wouldn't be the match, if you know what I mean. It would be completely different."
Zverev said the match was extremely entertaining for him as well as the crowd due to the roller-coaster of emotions.
"I think it was very entertaining for all the people, but it was also entertaining to play it itself, because I went through a lot of emotions," Zverev added. "I mean, first, I was winning, I was playing incredible tennis. Then I had some physical issues. Then I had to come back. I had to dig deep. To come back, to win that match, is a great feeling."
Zverev was then asked to shed light on what tilted the scales in his favor. The third seed claimed a couple of points in the deciding set ultimately made the difference. The German pointed out that he might not have won the match if Tsitsipas had held serve to take a 5-1 lead.
"One or two points, to be honest," Zverev said. "I feel if he holds serve to go up 5-1, I'm probably not going to win the match. But I'm happy about how it went."
Zverev asserted that he started believing he could win the match once he got the first break of serve back to make it 4-2 in the final set. The German admitted that going off the court to deal with his stomach issues also made him feel better.
"I mean, after I broke 4-2 and went outside the court, I started to feel a little bit better, started believing in myself again," Zverev said. "I think, yeah, that was the key moment, the key factor. I think that break for 4-2 in the third set."
"I have known Andrey Rublev since we were 11, we have been best friends for a long period" - Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev will lock horns with good friend Andrey Rublev in Sunday's final. Rublev came from a set down to beat Daniil Medvedev for the first time in his career in the other semi-final.
Zverev heaped praise on Rublev, saying the Russian is playing the best tennis of his career. He also revealed that he had a long-standing friendship with the Russian, having come up the ranks together.
"Yeah, he's playing tennis of his life, I think beating Daniil, who is in incredible form right now. It's going to be of course a tough one but also a fun one," Zverev said.
"I have known Andrey since we were 11 years old," he added. "We have been pretty much best friends for a long period of time. It's great to see how long of a way we came and that we are kind of, you know, playing the biggest matches and competing for the biggest titles together."
