By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday, December 30, 2022
Alexander Zverev’s first official tour-level match since injuring his ankle at Roland-Garros has ended in a loss. Last June, Zverev tore all three lateral ligaments in his right ankle. The German, who had surgery to repair the ankle and has just recently completed a lengthy rehab process, fell to Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic at United Cup, 6-4, 6-2.
It wasn’t the result Zverev wanted, but the former World No.3 knows he still has a long road ahead of him. He talked about it with reporters on Saturday in Sydney.
“Physically I'm not at the level that I have to be,” he said. “This is not even a question. I'm getting tired a lot quicker than I always did. I'm not as fast as I probably was.”
Zverev says he only recently has achieved pain-free status with regard to the surgically repaired ankle. And he believes he still has several weeks, if not longer, to to until he can reach his top form.
“To be honest, I'm only pain-free for about two, three weeks now, since all Saudi Arabia basically. Before that I had pain and I wasn't able to do all the different kind of things I want to do.
“I don't think it will be a matter of tomorrow, after tomorrow. It will be a few weeks until I'm back to the level I want to be.”
Zverev says that he isn’t setting high expectations for the first part of the season. He just wants to find his best tennis. He’ll continue that quest next week in Australia, as Germany faces USA at United Cup next.
“I think it's tough to set expectations high right now. It would be unrealistic and also quite stupid for me to set the expectations towards winning or something like that,” he said. “Of course, I want to win. Everybody wants to win. For me, it's about getting back the form that I'm used to.”