Alexander Zverev injury update given with hope of emulating Djokovic

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Alexander Zverev’s brother has shared an update on the German as he continues his recovery from injury. The world No 6 tore several ligaments in his ankle when he suffered a freak injury during his French Open semi-final in June and was set to come back at last month’s Davis Cup before being diagnosed with a bone edema.

Zverev has not competed in more than four months after he went down with a horror injury during his French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal. The pair had been playing for three hours and had only just reached the second set tiebreak when the 25-year-old collapsed to the ground screaming in pain.

He later revealed he had torn multiple ligaments in the ankle and underwent surgery, arriving in Germany to represent his country at the Davis Cup last month in what was set to be his comeback tournament. But the 19-time title winner revealed that he was in pain and “couldn’t walk” as he was diagnosed with a bone edema and had surgery.

His brother – former world No 25 Mischa Zverev – has now shared an update on the world No 6’s progress as he revealed that his team were hoping he could emulate Novak Djokovic’s success this year after spending some time away from the game. “Sascha doesn’t just want to play tournaments when he’s healthy, but only when he’s also fit in terms of play,” the elder Zverev brother told Eurosport.

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It means that Zverev has no date or tournament in mind for a comeback, though with less than a month to go until the final event of the season, the ATP Finals, it is unlikely that the 25-year-old will be seen again in 2022. The German was still in the race to qualify for the season-ending championships despite being out of action since June but has now been pushed down to ninth place, out of the qualification zone.

He does not look set to appear at next week’s ATP 500 events in Vienna and Basel, or the last Masters 1000 of the year in Paris. Zverev won’t want to rush his comeback as he looks to replicate Djokovic’s success after a three-month break this summer when he was unable to play the North American hard-court swing as a result of his vaccination status.

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With Zverev looking to use the Serb as his blueprint, Mischa said: “I think that’s incredibly strong. Novak comes back, wins two tournaments – and that’s it. Obviously he wasn’t injured and he’s only had one break, but he comes on with a lot of confidence and plays his thing down. I’m sure he’ll get even better. It’s very impressive, especially at 35.”

The world No 7 is undefeated since returning in Tel Aviv two weeks ago, winning his 89th career title there before picking up his 90th a week later in Astana. Djokovic had not played since winning Wimbledon in July but picked up where he left off when he made his comeback at the ATP 250 event at the end of September.

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