Zverev says Wimbledon hopes ‘about me’ despite open draw

LONDON, July 1 — French Open champion Alexander Zverev insists his aim of a first deep run at Wimbledon depends purely on himself, despite being in a wide-open half of the men’s draw.

The world number three came through a testing four-set battle with Belgian debutant Alexander Blockx in the opening round, winning 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/0) on Centre Court and will next face France’s Valentin Royer.

Zverev clinched his long-awaited maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this month after several near-misses, taking full advantage of shock early exits for Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.

He has never had much joy at Wimbledon, failing to get past the last 16 in nine previous appearances.

But Sinner and Djokovic, the two favourites for the title in the absence of the injured Carlos Alcaraz, are in the opposite half of the draw.

American fourth seed Ben Shelton exited the tournament from Zverev’s half on Tuesday.

“It’s very different than a French Open. For me, the draw doesn’t really matter, because I have played a top-10 opponent one time in my career here, which was Milos Raonic, in 2017,” said Zverev.

“All the other years, I have lost to players outside of the top 10. So it’s really about me.

“It’s really about me getting through my matches and playing my matches, because yes, maybe the names of Jannik and Novak and all those guys, they’re in the other side of the draw, but for me, that doesn’t really matter, because historically I have not gotten to them.

“So for me, it’s about focusing on the matches that are ahead of me to get to those names. I think that’s the most important thing.”

Zverev was in danger of becoming the first reigning men’s Roland Garros champion to go out in the first round at the All England Club since Rafael Nadal in 2013 at several points in the match.

But the 29-year-old dug deep to beat Blockx for the third time in as many meetings this year.

The second seed needed just 30 minutes to take the first set, courtesy of the only break in the ninth game.

Blockx showed his mettle in a second-set tie-break, saving a set point and then levelling the match when Zverev double-faulted.

But a couple of double-faults in the third-set breaker proved costly for the 21-year-old, and Zverev wrapped up victory in the next set in another tie-break. — AFP