GERMANY: After a forced break of around six months due to injury, Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has celebrated a successful comeback with a victory over Dominic Thiem at the Diriyah Tennis Cup on Thursday.
The German beat Thiem 10-8, 10-7 at the exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia.
This was his first official appearance since rupturing ankle ligaments in early June at the French Open and he plans to play his first games at such tournaments in the Middle East before returning to the ATP tour for the start of the season at the end of December.
Ahead of his return to the courts, Zverev told dpa that the longbreak "wasn't mentally easy, but I'm ready to play again."
"I can't just go to the Australian Open and expect to play my best tennis. Therefore, these tournaments are extremely important right now," Zverev said in view of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2023,which runs on January 16-29.
The player is aware he still needs time to find his good form and has to accepted that he won't be back at "100 per cent straight away," but stressed: "Nothing has changed for me in terms of goals. I still want to be one of the best players in the world, I still want to win the biggest tournaments in the world." -- dpa
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