Alexander Zverev was crushed after losing to Hyeon Chung in five sets in the third round at the Australian Open. But he received some comforting words from an unlikely source.
“I didn’t expect it. I was kind of sitting on my bench in the locker room,” Zverev said at his BNP Paribas Media Day at Indian Wells this week. “(Federer) was actually on the other side of the locker room. He came up talking to me he could see I was really upset and bummed out. Losing a five-set match in a Grand Slam is not the easiest, especially that I knew I was actually playing all right.
“If you listened to my (Australian Open) press conference afterwards, I actually knew that Chung was going to play well the next two matches. I said, ‘be careful don’t look at his ranking too much, he’s playing great.’ And that was the case. He got to the semifinals, so I knew that if I would have won that match maybe I could have made a run as well.”
Federer’s winning of twenty major titles since 2003 has overshadowed the struggles the young Roger endured in his early ATP years.
“He (Federer) told me a story the first time he got past the (Grand Slam) quarters he was already 22 years old. So, for me that was very encouraging. He’s the greatest player of all time and he told me something like that he never made it past the quarters (of a Grand Slam) until he was 22. And I’m only 20 years old so in that case I still have time to win a few majors I’m guessing (chuckles).”
Back in 2003, the 21-year-old Federer was on a roll, not unlike young Zverev has been for the last couple of years. Federer had won Munich, reached the Rome final and arrived in Paris for his fifth try at Roland Garros with considerable expectations for himself, surely to do better than his previous quarterfinal and fourth round runs at the red clay major.
But Federer was astoundingly bounced out in the first round by Peru’s journeyman Luis Horna in straight sets.
Even more surprising, Federer rebounded from that tragic loss just weeks later by winning his first major at Wimbledon.
Zverev is appreciative for the personal inspiration and advises he has received from Federer.
“I think most people know what kind of guy (Federer) is already,” Zverev said. “We know that he is one of the nicest guys on tour. We know that he wants to pass on the knowledge to the guys he thinks are gonna be great as well. He’s done that on a few occasions with Grigor a little bit and when he was a little bit younger.”
“He’s doing that with me a little bit now. He’s trying to talk to me, he’s trying to give me advice — even in practice when he sees something I should do maybe different, maybe play a shot a different way, he’s helped me. So he’s obviously someone that understands that he is a great player but at the same time he’s not going to play forever and he’s someone that wants to keep tennis in great hands and keep the tennis level at the highest level it can be and he’s obviously doing everything he can to help that.”
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Hartt · March 8, 2018 at 1:37 pm
Of the many things that are impressive about Roger, giving advice to his young opponents is a big one. After all, he still has to compete against these guys and hopefully beat them. It is one thing to work with the really young players, like Felix – he isn’t likely to even play against them in a tourney, and if he did Fed would be a huge favourite. But to help guys like Sascha and Grigor, who are serious opponents, guys who are capable of beating him, that is truly magnanimous.
Duke Carnoustie · March 8, 2018 at 4:41 pm
Landmark victory for Taylor Fritz. Down a set with Opelka booming everything in sight he survived match point and won a tiebreaker in set two and downs the giant for a huge victory.
The shame of it was nobody was there to see it but the Duke watched it and that’s what counts.
Chazz · March 8, 2018 at 4:50 pm
I saw almost all of it and both were playing at a really high level. It’s a shame someone had to lose but Fritz showed guts by pulling that out when the margin of error is so small in a match like that. He’d better move on quickly because Rublev is going to be very tough to beat.
Duke Carnoustie · March 8, 2018 at 5:42 pm
Donald Young gets trounced by Coric in 57 minutes 0 and 2 in an absolute annihilation. He’s out of the top 100 and on his way out the door as he continues to prove that crime does not pay for falsifying racist remarks.
Scoop Malinowski · March 8, 2018 at 5:55 pm
Young also has points to defend in Miami as he won a round or two there last year, before Fognini sent him home. Young in a downward spiral which will be difficult to reverse.Young will have to go back to Challengers.
Hartt · March 8, 2018 at 11:39 pm
The two Canucks who played today both got through, but the matches could not have been more different. Shapo won in SS over Berankis, 6-4, 6-4. He showed his usual flare, hitting some amazing shots and Berankis had some good winners of his own. Several very entertaining points, but not a lot of long rallies.
The Polansky vs Copil match had 2 baseliners, so there were many very long rallies, 38 or 40 shots type of thing. The match was extremely close, all 3 sets went to TBs and Polansky finally won the third set TB 14-12. It seemed like the match would never end. Have to say it was not nearly as entertaining as Shapo’s match – not much variety or exciting shot-making.
Hartt · March 8, 2018 at 11:57 pm
Lots of youngsters won today. Donaldson just won over King, so he gets added to the list of: Fritz, Tsitsipas, Coric, Medvedev, and Shapo.
Duke Carnoustie · March 9, 2018 at 12:06 am
Yeah Young is done. Too many Americans are ahead of him now. He was pushed upon us due to his junior success and meanwhile Foe has already won a tourney and he has not.
Young should become a club pro somewhere in Florida or an assistant coach in college. His pro career is over.
Duke Carnoustie · March 9, 2018 at 1:33 am
Khachanov and Donskoy in a thriller going the distance!
Duke Carnoustie · March 9, 2018 at 1:35 am
Delbonis defeats Harry in 3 sets. He next faces Fed.
Delbonis 1-0 in his career vs. the Great One!
catherine · March 9, 2018 at 2:49 am
Serena wins 7-5 6-3. She’s probably relieved but I can’t see her going the distance.
Azarenka bt Watson, no surprise.
catherine · March 9, 2018 at 3:19 am
Serena will play Bertens next who will try to make her run more than Diyas could manage. Diyas tried dropshots but they weren’t well placed. Past Bertens S will probably play Venus but past Venus I can’t foresee.
Serena all in black – to intimidate opponents or keep warm ?
I wonder if the top players see her as a challenge – love to be fly on the wall in the dressing room 🙂
Gives a bit of life to the WTA anyway.
Scoop Malinowski · March 9, 2018 at 8:04 am
Funny how the media is giving Young the complete free pass for his fake racial accusations against Harrison, unlike how the media tried and probably will try again to crucify Sandgren for his political/religious beliefs. Guess it shows who has the real privilege from the media and the establishment in America now. I wish Young luck, he has fallen down the rankings before, in 2012 he had a 17 match losing streak and dropped to 190 in the world. So he hasn’t fallen that far yet, hopefully he can figure out the problem and get back to winning some matches.
Scoop Malinowski · March 9, 2018 at 8:08 am
Was shocked by the high level of the tennis by both Delbonis and Harrison. Long physical aggressive points and pinpoint shotmaking. Delbonis was the more potent and offensive and Harrison hung in there with him toe to toe but Delbonis had a little more firepower. Delbonis when at his best, is a terror, with wins over Federer, Wawrinka, Murray and Isner. Delbonis is a scary player when at his best and credit to HArrison for hanging in there and nearly pulling it off, he should have won it with the two MPs but Delbonis was not to be denied last night.
Scoop Malinowski · March 9, 2018 at 10:24 am
Good win for Serena. She looks pretty close to her former self. The will is still there. She has a freakish will and desire to win and that is what separates her from no-emotion players like Diyas. Serena uses emotional adrenaline better than any player I’ve ever seen including Hewitt and Nadal.
catherine · March 9, 2018 at 11:12 am
Scoop – I’d agree with you there. I watched her press conference – nothing remarkable but she is level-headed and realistic (more so I must say than many of her more frenzied fans).
Maybe Serena learned lessons from her US Open outburst a few years ago and among the things she learned was how to channel her anger and use her emotional adrenaline in a positive way.
I’ll be looking to see her trying to cut points short if she’s up against a relentless retriever.
JG · March 9, 2018 at 12:04 pm
I was surprised how well Harry was moving, especially on the drop shots which he lobbed back when Delbonis came to net after hitting the dropper. Ive played on those courts and they are some of the slowest hard courts I have played on, but its really fun to play on them–you do feel like you can move like Harry was last night and hit with a lot of pace as the ball sits up there. Its too bad he’s out in the first round after playing like that.
Tiafoe even tho playing well will have his hands full with Escobedo, I believe Escobedo has beaten him before and on these courts Escobedos pace will be huge, as will Tiafoe’s forehand.
Dan Markowitz · March 9, 2018 at 12:48 pm
Harry played and competed well and he’s a great mover and server, but he’s never going to be a top 20 player. He should go to Sampras and learn how to hit ruining cross court forehand. He’s just not an attacking player and surprisingly his hands at net for a top doubles player are not that good.
Chazz · March 9, 2018 at 12:49 pm
Should be a good one. Escobedo is 2-0 against Tiafoe, with both wins very close (3rd set tiebreakers) in 2016 challengers.
Duke Carnoustie · March 9, 2018 at 2:10 pm
Serena looked very good considering the layoff. Diyas is not an easy opponent. She definitely looks thicker as well after the child.
catherine · March 9, 2018 at 2:36 pm
Women vary in the time it takes to lose weight after childbirth. I would think by the summer Serena will be overall fitter and slimmer.
catherine · March 9, 2018 at 2:58 pm
Now Serena is back playing and there are stories about her in the media I’d like to mention a regular feature of BTL comments on those stories in 90% of sports news sites I see – around 1/4 to 1/3 of those comments have to be deleted by moderators.
Tells me Serena must be doing something right.
Duke Carnoustie · March 9, 2018 at 3:27 pm
Konta and Kvitova drop first-set TBs. Women’s tennis is nuts.
catherine · March 9, 2018 at 3:45 pm
Women’s tennis isn’t nuts – that’s routine 🙂
Kvitova has made a habit recently of dropping sets.
catherine · March 9, 2018 at 4:32 pm
Konta out – she made a bad mistake dumping Fisette. As I’ve said before.
Chazz · March 9, 2018 at 8:02 pm
Escobedo deserves a lot of credit for beating Sock and Tiafoe in the past few weeks. I’m not sure he’ll ever be a top 20 player but he has his moments.
scoopmalinowski · March 9, 2018 at 8:34 pm
Escobedo could be the best of the lot. Very impressive win vs B Foe.
Chazz · March 9, 2018 at 10:17 pm
Kyrgios withdraws from IW with the same elbow injury that caused him to withdraw from Acapulco.
Duke Carnoustie · March 9, 2018 at 10:36 pm
Fun debate – who will be ranked higher this time next year, Kyrgios or Tomic? Kyrgios looks to be headed for a rough season. He’ll accomplish nothing on clay and if he doesn’t have a big SW19, a lot of guys will pass him.
Duke Carnoustie · March 9, 2018 at 10:48 pm
What a win for FAA. Well deserved and Pospisil was way too tight in the breaker, not aggressive. FAA made some mistakes as the agessor but he as rewarded for that approach.
Hartt · March 10, 2018 at 12:22 am
I did not think that either Felix or Vasek played particularly well in that match, but Felix had a better serving day, with 11 aces and 2 DFs, and was was just enough better than Vashy to win the match. He will play Raonic on Sunday. But Felix is the first player born in the 2000s to win a Masters 1000 match.
catherine · March 10, 2018 at 2:07 am
Muguruza out, Barty out. Whatever has happened to Ashleigh ? Lost 1st round in Brisbane, easily beaten in Sydney final, didn’t do much in AO – Australia’s great hope seems headed for the dustbin.
Same for Muguruza.
Scoop – is the court fast or slow this year ?
catherine · March 10, 2018 at 2:37 am
Vickery couldn’t believe she won that match. Garbine leading 6-2 4-2 and then lost final set 1-6. 45 UEs.
Slow and predictable. Her whole game needs a rethink.
Is this what winning W’don does to you ?
Radwanska should seriously consider retiring. Can’t be a pleasant experience for her out there now.
Some interesting matches coming up in the lower half of the draw – plus Halep v Delahide 🙂
Hartt will be thrilled to see CoCo advancing.
Hartt · March 10, 2018 at 6:48 am
Catherine, you did have to ruin my morning with the CoCo news!
I watched the last couple games of Anisimova vs Pavs, and wished I’d seen more. The 16-year-old was very impressive, very assured. Will definitely watch her next match.
Felix continues his long list of “the youngest to.” He is the youngest player to win a match at IW since Michael Chang in 1989. Chang, then 17, actually won 3 matches. Felix is also the youngest player to win an ATP main tour match since Shapo beat Kyrgios at Rogers Cup in 2016. Although I suspect that earlier than that there were many young winners.
Regarding court speed, the consensus is that it is slow, almost like a clay court. But the ball tends to fly through the air. Denis talked about how the conditions suited his game style – the slow courts gave him time for his big windup.
Michael in UK · March 10, 2018 at 7:55 am
Catherine,
I have always wondered if Konta’s big drop in ranking is in part associated with some kind of emotional response to the tragic death of her psychology/mental fitness guru Juan Coto.
He died in November 2016, and in 2017 a UK Coroner judged that he committed suicide.
I’d be interested in your thoughts.
catherine · March 10, 2018 at 7:59 am
Hartt – thanks re court speed. Maybe that has had something to do with the results we’re seeing – some players have never starred at IW, including Angie who has Makarova in her first match. Angie could get impatient.
I know I’ve said it before but I’m really sick of that Nike stuff. Pink pink pink. I hate pink.
catherine · March 10, 2018 at 8:31 am
Re Konta – the press here, including her cheerleaders K Mitchell and S Briggs, haven’t said very much about Konta’s emotional state and in particular her response to Coto’s suicide. Johanna hasn’t made any direct comment, at least not recently. But the suicide of someone you’ve been close to is always a very difficult thing to cope with, feelings of guilt etc and Johanna may have had quite a strong reaction which has had a long term effect.
Johanna also strikes me as a bit fragile mentally – she didn’t cope well with that situation in Fed Cup last year and she has had a fair coach turnover in the past 3 years.
No reason I could see to dump Fisette when they had had good results together – but I do know there were disagreements about scheduling – Fisette wanted her to play in Moscow last year and she refused, so that kind of conflict might have eventually led to the split.
I would guess Konta’s temporarily lost her way – but might not be a bad thing to be out of the spotlight in Britain for a while.
catherine · March 10, 2018 at 10:17 am
Did I read Dolahide is 6’4″ ? She can’t be – I saw her playing Cibulkova (5’3″) and D wasn’t a foot taller. Big upper body though.
Scoop Malinowski · March 10, 2018 at 2:53 pm
Catherine, Now Barty is expected to win, no longer the underdog. Pressure is back now. The court is notoriously slow and gritty. My friend lives out there and says it’s so rough and gritty that he can’t wear new shoes on it, has to wear old worn out shoe soles. New shoes are too grippy. Very very abrasive rough gritty court.
Scoop Malinowski · March 10, 2018 at 2:57 pm
Agree Catherine, that nike pink attire that Denis is forced to wear is horrific. Denis does wear some awful practice combos though, in Delray he was wearing green shorts and red short like Christmas colors. Maybe the kid is colorblind. That Nike actually decided to have top players wear that pink and black combo (mostly pink) is astounding. No way will any juniors or senior players buy and wear that. Nike has lost it’s touch and might have to reassign it’s designer. I remember the days when Nike would create cool looks and people couldn’t wait to buy it. The Fed stuff is always nice though.
catherine · March 10, 2018 at 3:18 pm
Fed probably designs his own clothes 🙂
Adidas is nicer – better lines and colours.
Thanks for info on the court – I’ll try to get a close look at how it’s playing.
dan markowitz · March 11, 2018 at 2:55 pm
The reason why the media isn’t making a big to-do about DY and his accusations of racism against Harry is that DY can’t win a match. He’s become a non-factor. The media doesn’t usually cover non-factors. Look Sandgren has become less visible and reported on, why? He hasn’t won a match since Australia. Who cares what his views are now? (I’m sorry, Sandgren’s played three tourneys since AO and won one match against a guy I’ve never heard of.)
If you haven’t figured it out yet, the media covers people in the public eye mostly. So DY, Sandgren aren’t going to get a lot of attention until they start to win.
Harry amuses me. He’s doing a lot better on keeping himself on an even keel when he plays, but he still lashes out against ball boys who don’t have his towel or Fergus Murphy and how he umpires with that little smug smile. Harry always seems like he’s just one little step away from losing it and pulling another Kokkanaikis.
He’s kind of like Johnny Mac without the huge gift of talent and Harry is actually scarier than Mac because even when Connors got in Mac’s face, he wasn’t going to commit violence. I get the feeling Harry could murder someone. He’s just a scary dude. Even when he says something nice to someone or is smiling, I sense the malevolence of the dude.
Scoop Malinowski · March 11, 2018 at 4:16 pm
Come on Dan, to equate Harrison with a murderer is ridiculous. Sure he might have a temper but he’s never erupted in violence on the court. To say you could see Harrison murdering someone in a rage is absurd and a stretch. Might as well start calling him OJ Harrison. Harrison is a passionate feisty tenacious player. Safin’s rage was far more extreme. Don’t think you could equate Safin with murder.