World No.3 Alexander Zverev has insisted that he remains in a good condition after coming through another five set match at the French Open.
On Sunday the German second seed battled back from two sets down to defeat Karen Khachanov. Booking a place in his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final. Zverev has now won three consecutive five-set matches. Becoming only the eight player in the Open Era to do so at Roland Garros. The last was Tommy Robredo back in 2013.
“It’s not about learning anymore. It’s about trying to find a way and trying to win. That’s what I am able to do in the last few matches, and I’m very happy about that.” Said Zverev.
“I’m very happy about being in the quarter-finals here (In Roland Garros) with going the hard way, going the long distance every single time and showing myself, showing everybody that I can play for as long as I need to.”
Heading into the quarter-finals of the tournament, Zverev has spent 729 minutes on the court (according to data from flashscore.com). This works out at one hour and 49 minutes longer than his next opponent, Dominic Thiem. Despite his marathon journey into the last eight, the German has dismissed suggestions that he may be struggling either mentally or physically.
“I’m not concerned. Mentally, definitely not, because I’m in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. If you’re mentally fatigued, then something is wrong with you.” He said.
“Physically, obviously it’s not easy to play back to back to back five-set matches, but I will manage it somehow. I will do everything I can to recover, as I said after the last match.
“I will make sure to be ready in two days’ time.”
The next test for the German will be two-time semifinalist Thiem. The Austrian came through his match with a win over Kei Nishikori. It will be the seventh meeting between the two and one Thiem hopes will become ‘legendary.’
“It’s, I think, the match, especially in Germany and Austria, everybody was hoping for. So I think we can make it legendary and that would be very nice,” He said during his press conference.
Zverev currently leads their head-to-head 4-2. Although he lost their only meeting in a grand slam at the 2016 French Open.
