‘I just want to go home’ – Alexander Zverev exhausted after Indian Wells defeat
Alexander Zverev has failed to add a third Masters 1000 title to his 2021 trophy cabinet after losing to Taylor Fritz at Indian Wells.
The German led 5-2 in the deciding set of the quarter-final, though failed to convert his two match points as Taylor Fritz found a way past the world number four 4-6 6-3 7-6(3).
Zverev, who already has two Masters titles to his name this year in Cincinnati and Madrid, would have been buoyed by Stefanos Tsitsipas’ earlier loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili, though failed to capitalise on the open draw.
“Today was just not really my day, to be honest. I was close to winning, but the level of tennis was just not quite there for me,” Zverev told reporters.
“Today mentally is not easy for me. My next tournament is (in) Vienna. Hoping I can deal with it well there, but right now I just want to go home.
“It was a very long season. I have played well. But this one hurts because I knew that after Stefanos lost this morning, I was kind of the favourite to win this tournament, but my tennis wasn’t there yet.”
Zverev entered the match in strong form after winning 20 of his last 21 matches on hard courts, including a stunning Olympic gold in Tokyo earlier this summer.
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