Alexander Zverev played his first tournament as a Grand Slam champion this week, losing in the semi-finals to Taylor Fritz.
It seems that, despite being the latest major winner, he still cannot overcome old enemies, having now lost all of his last seven matches against the American.
For whatever reason, this is a match-up that does not agree with the 28-year-old, and one he will be keen to sort out sooner rather than later.
However, on this particular occasion, Alexander Zverev insists he was not outclassed by Taylor Fritz.
Instead, the main reason for his physical struggles and subsequent collapse was due to an issue completely out of his control.
Alexander Zverev explains why he was suffering so much during his match vs Taylor Fritz
Speaking to the German press immediately after his match, he revealed: “My back gave up, but that wasn’t the reason. I had extreme problems with my sugar today because the device before the match, specifically the sensor I use, unfortunately displayed an incorrect sugar level.
“I ended up injecting way too much, then during the match, specifically within the first 45 minutes of play. I felt absolutely awful; it was completely terrible.
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“And yeah, that was, unfortunately, the reason today why I was off. Physically, I wasn’t there in the second set; even in the third set, it was difficult for me to be there physically at all.
“But I fought hard. I gave it my absolute all, and in the end, you have to admit that she also deserved to come away with the victory today.
“He played better than me today, so he was there more, was fresher and moved better, and so he deserved to win.”
Despite these struggles, Zverev remains positive. He explained why: “In the previous instances where I have played against Taylor, he was the superior tennis player. However, I feel that my tennis was present today, even though I was physically unable to demonstrate it.
“In some way, this has provided me with positive indications regarding Wimbledon because I believe I have found my rhythm quite effectively on the grass and I sincerely hope I will be able to demonstrate that level of performance at Wimbledon as well.”
Fritz sent a message to Zverev whilst still on court after their match, crediting him for fighting through such brutal conditions.
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Last year, after losing to Fritz in the Stuttgart Open final, Zverev told the American: “Taylor, I’m f———- tired of you! I don’t wanna see you again.”
He laughed as he said it, but there will have been an air of truth to his claims.
After all, as mentioned earlier, yesterday marked his seventh straight defeat, thus skewing their head-to-head heavily in his favour.
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What a final!
Fritz has now won ten of their 15 meetings; before this inexplicable seven-match win streak, Zverev led their head-to-head with five wins to three.
Some of these losses have come on the biggest stages too, most notably at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Zverev will be desperate to turn this around, but as he stated, he can take solace from the fact that he pushed Fritz so hard despite his health concerns.