Alexander Zverev said his service was negatively impacted after he sustained a hamstring injury in the second set of his US Open quarterfinal against Carlos Alcaraz. On Wednesday night, No 1 seed Alcaraz ousted 2020 US Open runner-up Zverev 6-3 6-2 6-4. Against Zverev, Alcaraz converted 4-of-4 of his break point chances and also saved all five of the German’s break point opportunities. “I was in the match the first set, yeah. I could have broken, it could have gone my way, it didn’t. Then the second set I felt something in my hamstring glute, left side. I couldn’t push off on my serve anymore. My serve speed was down quite a lot compared to the other days. Against him especially I needed a good serving day otherwise it would have been difficult. Yeah, I think my biggest weapon was kind of taken away after the first set, and yeah, it’s difficult to even compete if you don’t have that,” Zverev said after the match.
Alexander Zverev and Carlos AlcarazĀ© Getty Images Sport – Matthew Stockman
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Alcaraz sends a classy message to Zverev
After beating Zverev at the US Open, Alcaraz said he is happy to see the 26-year-old German doing well on the biggest stage again after what happened at the 2022 French Open. “The last time I played against Zverev was in Madrid this year. He said he wasn’t ready to play at his best and I was sad about it. We’ve had some big fights and big matches. I’m so happy to see him back in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam and playing his best again,” Alcaraz said of Zverev. Meanwhile, Zverev also praised Alcaraz, saying the Spaniard is “very similar from the level of the game” to Novak Djokovic. “I played Novak in Cincinnati, I played Carlos here. I think they are very, very similar from the level of the game. There are some things that Novak does better; there are some things that Carlos does better. I think they are at a level of their own at the moment. Yeah, the other guys gotta catch up. That’s as simple as that,” Zverev said.