RIO DE JANEIRO – Alexander Zverev abandons his serious expression for a moment, flashes a German smile and blurts out three words: ‘Best of five’.
His interlocutor bursts out laughing. It is Monday in Rio de Janeiro, the city is melting in the middle of a heatwave with temperatures reaching 45 degrees and Zverev is showing the soul of a Buddha: He has just listened to six speeches in Portuguese, without understanding almost anything, in a long ceremony at the headquarters of the government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the astonishing Laranjeiras Palace, which for a couple of decades during the last century was the official residence of Brazilian presidents.
The one laughing is Claudio Castro, governor of Rio de Janeiro and faithful ally of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who this week was formally accused of having led a coup d’état on 8 January 2023 to overthrow the brand-new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The State of Rio de Janeiro is one of the sponsors of the Rio Open, the ATP 500 in which Zverev is the top favourite and this Friday he will face Argentine Francisco Comesaña for a place in the semifinals. Thus, Castro was able to afford to ‘play’ a tennis ‘match’ on a mini court set up in the gardens of the Palace.
The merciless Carioca sun made the temperature feel even higher than 45 degrees, hence Zverev’s joke: yes, we’ll play, but best of five sets.
The German is not a man who gives out smiles, but clearly something has happened since he managed to close the case in which he was accused of gender violence: Zverev tries to come across as better, more likeable; he intersperses jokes, not always successfully, but he tries. It is, at first glance, an operation to lighten his image and make him more approachable to tennis lovers.
Paradoxically, he achieved his greatest success in terms of mass seduction of the public with a painful defeat, that of the Australian Open final on 26 January. His defeat, his moist eyes and the warm words and comfort of the Italian Jannik Sinner ‘humanised’ a player who historically many see as cold and arrogant.
Partly because of that, what he said when asked about Sinner’s three-month ban drew attention. It was as if Zverev had forgotten about those minutes of excitement in Australia.
‘It’s a weird situation because it’s been obviously a very long process where first he is cleared, then obviously WADA wanted to have a second look at it and stuff like that. To me, I think, you know, there’s two options. Either you’re at no fault and you should get no suspension at all. Because if you have no fault, then you have no fault. You shouldn’t get punished. But if you do have fault, then I think for taking steroids, three months is not a suspension.’
He didn’t exactly sound empathetic towards Sinner, but that’s how Zverev is, as well as being a great tennis player, a man gifted for the game who doesn’t want to be like his compatriot Michael Stich, Wimbledon champion and world number two. No, Zverev wants to be like Boris Becker: to win at least one Grand Slam title, but also to be the best in the rankings.
With Sinner out of the circuit for three months after testing positive for an anabolic steroid, the leadership of the ranking seems closer, the German was noted during a meeting with the press in Rio.
‘It is my goal to become the number one and to win Grand Slams this year, for sure. But I think whether he’s suspended or not right now, it doesn’t change my goals in a way. The goals are still the same. Of course, if you cannot make points for three months, then mathematically it’s easier. It’s logical. But for me, I’m still working on my things. I’m still working on the things that I want to improve. And at the next Grand Slam, he’s going to be there again. So that doesn’t really change much’.
Did things really not change?
‘Of course, me and Carlos, we both see our opportunity now to close up the gap, probably on points and on becoming world number one again. But for him again, for me, for the first time. But of course, we have to focus on our things and we have to win against the other opponents that are in front of us right now’.
The German is dreaming of Paris, and it is no coincidence that he has added the clay of Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro to his calendar this year.
‘Of course Roland Garros is always kind of marked on my calendar in a little bit. I feel like I have great chances there and hopefully I can prove it this year. Yeah, and I want to go on the clay court as soon as possible. I want to feel the court again. I wanted to play on it and of course get ready for the big tournaments coming up. Of course we have two more Masters in the United States on hardcourt, but after that it’s all play and I’m looking forward to that swing as well’.
The splint he is wearing in Rio de Janeiro – “I’ve had problems with the balls here, they’re not good for my elbow” – shouldn’t be an obstacle, he assures. Zverev is looking for two reasons to really smile.
