Boris Becker reacts to fellow German Alexander Zverev's gritty win to reach 4th round at Indian Wells 2023
Former German tennis star Boris Becker recently reacted to compatriot Alexander Zverev's win over Finnish tennis player Emil Ruusuvuori in the third round of the Indian Wells Open.
Zverev defeated Ruusuvuori 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 after a grueling two hours and 41 minutes of play, securing his spot in the fourth round of the WTA 1000 tournament. This marks Zverev's third time advancing to the fourth round in seven main-draw appearances at Indian Wells.
The former World No. 2's 2023 season is off to a sluggish start. Prior to this match, he had a record of 7-7, having kicked off his Indian Wells campaign with a straight-sets victory over Pedro Cachi. Zverev had recently made it to the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he was defeated by the defending champion, Andrey Rublev.
Boris Becker took to social media to share Zverev's winning shot from the match. He shared the video on his Instagram, which was first shared by the ATP page, and tagged Alexander Zverev.
"I’m happy to move forward" - Alexander Zverev after win over Emil Ruusuvuori
During the post-match press conference, Alexander Zverev admitted that he didn't perform at his best during the third-round match of the Indian Wells Open.
However, he expressed his satisfaction with the hard-earned victory over Emil Ruusuvuori. Despite the challenges he faced, Zverev was able to push through and advance to the next round.
“He’s an incredibly aggressive opponent, he can hit the ball very hard from both sides. I’m happy that I managed to win, to get it done somehow. I wasn’t playing my best and I thought he really was. That’s how it goes sometimes, but I’m happy with the win and I’m happy to move forward,” Zverev said.
The former World No. 2 was relieved after emerging victorious from the grueling match. Despite feeling overpowered by his Finnish opponent throughout the game, Zverev was happy to overcome the challenges and secure the win.
“I was doing everything I could. I felt like he [Ruusuvuori] was playing better than me starting from the second set, and also throughout the third set, I thought he was outplaying me a lot of the time. So I’m just finding a way and I’m happy to do that today,” he said.
Alexander Zverev is set to face either World No. 6 Daniil Medvedev or Ilya Ivashka in the fourth round of the Indian Wells Open on March 14.