Alexander Zverev decided to follow the path of Carlos Alcaraz and will not participate in the ATP 500 Rotterdam Open after his stint at the Australian Open.
The German reached the semifinals in Melbourne but suffered a harsh defeat, precisely against Alcaraz, wasting a break advantage in the 5th set, Tennis uptodate reported.
Zverev totaled almost 20 hours on court during the two weeks in Melbourne, and especially the battle against Alcaraz was grueling, with five hours and 27 minutes on court, one of the longest duels in Australian Open history.
Just a few days after his painful elimination in the Happy Slam, Sascha Zverev sent a statement confirming that he suffers from ankle problems that forced him to make the decision to withdraw from the tournament.
"I find it incredibly unfortunate that I have to make this decision," the world No. 4 stated.
With Zverev’s absence confirmed, added to Alcaraz’s confirmed withdrawal a day earlier, the tournament will feature three top-10 players in the draw, led by Australian Alex de Minaur (No. 7), who will be joined by Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 8) and Alexander Bublik (No. 10).
