German tennis star Alexander Zverev has hit back at Martina Navratilova following criticism of his performance in the quarter-finals of the US Open on Tuesday.
The world No.7 saw off Borna Coric in four sets during what was a roller-coaster encounter with both players struggling to find rhythm in their games. Zverev produced 12 double faults, 52 unforced errors and only managed to win 41% of his second service points en route to the victory. Becoming the first German man to reach the last four in New York since Boris Becker back in 1995.
Speaking about Zverev’s latest performance on Amazon Prime, tennis legend Navratilova described some of his play as ‘pat-a-cake’ tennis before suggesting that he wouldn’t be able to win a major title with such an approach against the top players. The remark from the American, who is one of the most decorated players in Grand Slam history, triggered a defiant response from Zverev.
“Maybe she should look at my record against the big guys,” he said during his press conference.
“Maybe she should look that I’m positive against Roger (Federer). Maybe she should look that I’ve beaten Novak (Djokovic) on multiple occasions in big matches and finals.
“I’m in the semi-finals, and sometimes not playing your best and finding a way is more important than playing your best.
“But she’s a grand slam champion, as well, a multiple grand slam champion, she’s respected, but her opinion right now does not matter to me.”
Zverev is the only person outside of the Big Four to have won multiple Masters 1000 titles among active players. Overall he has won 11 ATP titles which also includes the 2018 ATP Finals. Although in the Grand Slams he is yet to play in a final. This year’s US Open is his 20th main draw appearance in a major, but it is only the second time he has reached the semi-final stage after the Australian Open back in January.
Following Zverev’s response, Navratilova took to Twitter to argue that her comments were taken out of context and weren’t fully explained during his press conference. The 63-year-old says he needs to play like he did in the fourth set against Coric and not during his first two.
“I said Sasha needs to play like he did in the 4th set, not the way he played the first and second sets. It’s that simple,” she said to the person who asked Zverev the original question.
“If he plays like he did in the last set he can win. Did you tell him that? Whatever. Context matters, as you well know. You should have framed it differently – this way it creates the wrong impression of what I said. And now I will try to explain that to Sasha when I see him next.”
The journalist in question highlighted that during the press conference they weren’t able to elaborate fully on the topic after being cut off by the moderator. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic all press conferences are being held online via zoom.
Zverev will pay Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in the fourth round.
