The sound of a tennis ball being struck by Alexander Zverev is unmistakable, marked by the sharp crack of racket meeting ball, the audience’s gasps, and the subsequent oohs as spectators check the speed of the serve.
After witnessing Zverev’s powerful serves firsthand during their Wimbledon match on Wednesday, Taylor Fritz believes the German’s serve will be too formidable for Arthur Fery in the upcoming semi-final on Friday, as well as for any other competitors in the men’s draw.
“Zverev is going to be incredibly tough to beat with how well he’s serving,” Fritz commented following his defeat, which ended with scores of 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in just under two hours. “That’s not something that I feel really changes from day to day with him. I feel like you can kind of expect that he’s going to show up and serve at least 70% first serves, bombs. He’s playing with a lot of confidence.”
On Court No 1, Zverev’s statistics were impressive, with his first serve averaging 131.7 mph and his second at 115 mph. These figures reveal that no player at Wimbledon this year has served with greater speed. Remarkably, despite his evident power, Zverev had never progressed past the last 16 at Wimbledon until this year. He is now looking forward to facing Fery, fully aware that a crowd of 15,000 on Centre Court will be rooting against him.
“I’ve been on tour for long enough,” Zverev reflected. “I feel like I’ve seen the most hostile crowds, I’ve seen tough crowds, I’ve seen unfair crowds as well. I feel like I should know how to handle it, I’ve learned how to handle it. I’m OK with it. “I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere. Of course, I know that 99% of the people will be cheering for him. But I also enjoy those kind of atmospheres. I enjoy it when the energy is very high. I always feel like the English crowd here, especially in London, they’re always quite fair. So I just look forward to a tough challenge in the semi-finals of a slam.”
“The first time I watched him play was actually in Australia,” he added. “He beat [Flavio] Cobolli in the first round. I was very impressed back then already. He has a very clean technique and very clean ground strokes. I thought he was a very good tennis player already, back then. “Of course, it’s maybe a surprise that he’s in the semi-finals. But I think he deserves it. The wins that he had, the way he fought back in a couple of those matches, is great to see. It’s a great story. “Last year at this time I was practising on the hard courts already. It is a dream come true to finally play well at Wimbledon. I’ve waited a long time for it.”
As the No 2 seed, Zverev is widely regarded as the favorite, but he emphasizes that he will not underestimate Fery. “I felt like, just because I was thinking about the knee, my focus was kind of all over the place,” he noted. “But he was very aggressive with his forehand and his backhand as well. Very aggressive. Hit the ball great. He played really well and did a lot of things that are big improvements to his game. “He’s changing direction a lot with the backhand. He’s serving such a high percentage, good spots. Really pulling the trigger with the forehand.”
“Of course, it’s maybe a surprise that he’s in the semi-finals. But I think he deserves it. The wins that he had, the way he fought back in a couple of those matches, is great to see. It’s a great story.”
Reflecting on his own journey, Zverev remarked, “Last year at this time I was practising on the hard courts already. It is a dream come true to finally play well at Wimbledon. I’ve waited a long time for it.”
Zverev’s convincing win over Fritz was particularly notable given that Fritz had previously defeated him in their last seven encounters. However, Fritz struggled with tendinitis in his right knee, which flared up after just three games, requiring treatment. Despite his discomfort, he graciously acknowledged that even at his best, he would have found it challenging to compete with Zverev in this form.
“I felt like, just because I was thinking about the knee, my focus was kind of all over the place,” Fritz admitted. “But he was very aggressive with his forehand and his backhand as well. Very aggressive. Hit the ball great. He played really well and did a lot of things that are big improvements to his game.”
“He’s changing direction a lot with the backhand. He’s serving such a high percentage, good spots. Really pulling the trigger with the forehand.”
With Zverev’s performance, Fery has been put on notice, and so too have Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
