"Super happy and positive going to Australia" - Alexander Zverev pumped up for 2023 season after helping Hawks win World Tennis League
Alexander Zverev is understandably upbeat after a couple of noteworthy wins in the World Tennis League which helped his team reign supreme at the inaugural edition of the exhibition event in Dubai.
The 25-year-old, whose 2022 season was tragically curtailed as a result of ankle ligament tears sustained during his French Open semifinal clash against Rafael Nadal, returned to action at the Diriyah Tennis Cup in Saudi Arabia.
From there, he moved on to the team competition in Dubai, where the German got the better of Novak Djokovic and Andreas Seppi to guide Team Hawks into the final of the World Tennis League.
Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Rybakina have made Hawks the champions of first edition of World Tennis League 🔥👏😍
#AlexanderZverev #ElenaRybakina #DominicThiem #AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova #WorldTennisLeague #Tennis https://t.co/bCN0y7AeSv
Although Alexander Zverev lost to Felix-Auger Aliassime, who represented Team Kites in the competition, teammate Elena Rybakina upset World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the women's singles while Dominic Thiem and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova got the better of Holger Rune and Sania Mirza to beat the Kites 37-25.
The World No. 12 lauded his teammates for the win via a social media post before going on to express his delight, stating that he was feeling "super happy and positive" going into next month's Australian Open.
"First ever World Tennis League champions. Best team anyone could ask for and great effort by everyone. Super happy and positive going to Australia with this week in the back," Zverev wrote.
Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open down the years
From a first-round loss to Andy Murray in 2016 to a semifinal spot a couple of years ago, Alexander Zverev slowly but surely made progress at Melbourne Park before a shock defeat against Denis Shapovalov ended his campaign earlier this year.
Comprehensive, impressive and not once did he blink after a minor bump in the road in the second set.
Denis Shapovalov dismantles World No. 3 Alexander Zverev in straight sets to punch his ticket into the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Shapo was superb tonight.
The Hamburg-born player defeated Robin Haase in a five-setter to progress to the second round of the Australian Open in 2017 before getting past Frances Tiafoe. Zverev stretched eventual runner-up Rafael Nadal to five-sets before bowing out in the third round of the competition, failing to progress into the fourth round the following year as well.
A win over Alex Bolt saw him through to the fourth round of the Melbourne Grand Slam for the first time in 2019, where he was unable to get the better of Milos Raonic.
Commendable victories over Andrey Rublev and Stan Wawrinka powered the seventh-seed into the semifinals of the 2020 Australian Open where he ran into Dominic Thiem.
Alexander Zverev clinched the first set but failed to carry the winning momentum forward against the Austrian, who prevailed in the third and fourth set tie-breaks to end a memorable run by the former World No. 2 in Melbourne.
2008
2021
🏆 2008
🏆 2011
🏆 2012
🏆 2013
🏆 2015
🏆 2016
🏆 2019
🏆 2020
❓ 2021
Novak Djokovic beats Alexander Zverev as he chases down a record-extending ninth Australian Open title.
#AO2021 https://t.co/sJyaJtzXHp
Novak Djokovic proved to be too formidable a rival in the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open last year, while Denis Shapovalov prevented Zverev from entering the quarterfinals in 2022.