Alexander Zverev said will consider getting therapy after suffering a crushing two-day, five-set opening round defeat at Wimbledon. The world No.3 confessed he felt “very lonely” and he was struggling mentally after losing 7-6 6-7 6-3 6-7 6-4 to world No.73 Arthur Rinderknech in a match carried over from Monday evening.
The German, who lost his third Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in January, said: “It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally. I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open. I just don’t know. I’m trying to find ways, trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way.I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.
“I’m trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. Would I consider therapy? Yeah, maybe. Maybe for the first time in my life I’ll probably need it.
“I’ve been through a lot of difficulties. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in the media. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in life generally. I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.
“Even when I’m winning, even when I’m winning like in Stuttgart or Halle, it’s not necessarily a feeling that I used to get where I was happy, over the moon, I felt motivated to keep going. It’s just not there right now for me, which is the first time in my life that I’m feeling that. Yeah, I don’t know. I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.”
Zverev, 28, has twice faced allegations of domestic abuse but has never been found guilty. A trial in Berlin last year was terminated when he reached an out-of-court settlement.
“Tennis-wise, it’s funny I say that because I lost first round, but I don’t think tennis is the problem right now for me,” said the German. “It’s something else that I have to find within me at the moment.
“Again, it’s difficult for me to tell you because I don’t have the answers right now. I have a month until Canada. Yeah, we’ll see what happens until then. But something within me has to change, which is not necessarily on the tennis court, a forehand or backhand, right now.
“It’s not an excuse or anything. I think Arthur deserved to win today. It’s something I’ve felt for the past few months. Again, I just feel generally very, very alone and very lonely. I don’t know. Just never felt that way before. I don’t have the answers right now.”
Asked if his desire was still there , Zverev replied: “To win a major, yes. I don’t know how to answer this, to be honest, because it’s a feeling that you’re going to bed and you’re just not really motivated for the next day, you don’t really feel like waking up and going to work. I think everybody had this feeling, it doesn’t matter what job you had. As an athlete, it kind of reflects on performance a lot. That’s more what I have right now.”
Frenchman Rinderknech said: “This is definitely the biggest win of my career. When it’s on Centre Court of Wimbledon against a guy like Sascha, who is No. 3 in the world, been there for the last probably ten years, so consistent player, and five sets, I can’t really ask for more.”
