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Roger Federer's former coach Ivan Ljubicic has responded to Alexander Zverev's claim that he could have beaten Rafael Nadal at the 2022 French Open if not for his injury.
Zverev and Nadal locked horns in the semifinals of the clay-court Major last year and the latter won the opening set 7-6(8). The second set also went to a tiebreak before Zverev suffered an ankle injury that forced him to retire and be out of action for the next six months.
While speaking to Eurosport recently, Zverev claimed that he could have beaten Nadal had he not suffered the injury since he believed he was playing his best tennis at the time.
"For some reason I did. I don't want to sound arrogant. Rafa is obviously the best player to ever play on that surface so you never know what happens. You never know what happens in that match as well. If I don't get injured, of course I [could have lost] that match. Of course, he can go on to win his 14th Grand Slam," the German said.
"But I felt like I was playing my best tennis that I've ever played on that surface. So for some reason, I did feel like I could at least compete with him, which I was doing. The outcome of the match obviously, always depends on little factors as well. But I did feel like that could have been the week for me," he added.
Ivan Ljubicic took to Twitter to respond to Alexander Zverev's statement, jokingly pointing out that everyone was claiming to have nearly won last year's French Open without 'sounding arrogant.' The Croat joked that he liked that kind of behavior and wanted players to bring on the "trash talk."
"Nobody wants to sound arrogant but everyone is claiming to have almost won Roland Garros last year. Love it!! On with trash talk," the Croat tweeted.
Alexander Zverev will face Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters
Alexander Zverev booked his place in the second round of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday by beating Alexander Bublik 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. The German will next face Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat Filip Krajinovic 5-7, 7-6(10), 6-1 in the first round.
This will be Zverev's seventh match against Bautista Agut, with the German currently leading 4-2 in the head-to-head. Their last meeting came in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Swiss Indoors, where Zverev won 7-5, 6-3.
The winner of the clash on Wednesday will face either Daniil Medvedev or Lorenzo Sonego in the third round.
