Alexander Zverev: Good to see Boris Becker, we both had a difficult time last year

Alexander Zverev says it is nice to see Boris Becker after “a difficult time” they had last year.

On Friday, Becker was in Trier following the German Davis Cup team. 

Last year, Becker served jail time after being found guilty of hiding assets after declaring bankrupt.

On the other side, Zverev missed the entire second half of the 2022 season due to injuries. 

“It’s always nice to see him. We both – in very different ways – had a difficult time last year,” Zverev said, per sport.de.

Zverev happy with his progress

Zverev officially returned to action at the start of the 2023 season. 

In Australia, Zverev went just 1-3. 

Zverev maybe didn’t impress in Australia but at least his body responded well and he is now healthy.

“Mentally, it’s very important that I notice that things are progressing. That feels good. It’s not like I’m going to win a Grand Slam tomorrow. My goal is to play my best tennis again for the clay court season,” Zverev said. 

On Friday, Zverev beat three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-1.

After the match, Zverev didn’t hide his happiness as he described it as his best performance since returning to action. 

“I think it’s important to go into tomorrow’s ties with a 1-1 [scoreline]. Obviously I’m very happy with my game. I think that was the best match since my injury. It’s going in a positive way and I hope I can continue progressing. I think I played a lot more aggressive and maybe Stan’s spirit went down a little bit, but in the end I picked up my level and I’m very happy with that,” Zverev said after beating Wawrinka.

Following his Davis Cup win over Wawrinka, Zverev pushed his head-to-head against the Swiss to 5-0. 

The turning point of their match was the 10th game of the first set, when Zverev broke Wawrinka to win the first set.

In the second set, Zverev broke Wawrinka twice to complete a two-set win.