"A Rocky Road" Zverev Battles Past Vomit and Knee Injury to Reach Semis
Struggling with vomiting and knee-high socks, Zverev endures to reach the semifinals
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An uncooperative foe and physical setbacks: Despite it all, Alexander Zverev scrapes into the semifinals of the grass event in Halle. His next adversary? The "toughest rival" of his career: Russian Daniil Medvedev.
First, Zverev darted to the bathroom, retching violently, then he smacked his left knee. But even these significant and minor difficulties couldn't halt the best German tennis star at the ATP tournament in Halle/Westphalia: After a grueling 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory against the irritating Flavio Cobolli from Italy, he's now in the semis and will face Medvedev.
"Before the game, I felt magnificent, then suddenly I felt dreadful," Zverev divulged about the drama in the opening set post-match: After taking his opponent's serve to start, he inexplicably doubled over at the baseline during the second game at 40-40 - and sprinted to the bathroom. "Couldn't tell you what it was," Zverev smirked, before adding, "After that, it was a game well-played."
"A Physical and Mental Test"
Zverev indeed persevered, shrugging off the mishap of whacking his knee with his racket at 3-1 with a small chuckle. However, the match wasn't a cakewalk: The nimble Cobolli, who had triumphed in Hamburg before the French Open, demonstrated resilience, but missed every one of his six break opportunities.
In 1 hour and 41 minutes, Zverev closed out the match with a victory, converting his second match point - he now faces an adversary on grass that he hasn't enjoyed playing against. Zverev has only won a meager three of his 19 matches against Medvedev, including just one of the last thirteen. "He's one of the most tenacious opponents I've ever faced," Zverev commented about the man he's sparred against more times than any other player, but added, "I'm excited for the challenge." They faced each other the last time in the semifinals of the Australian Open 2024, with Medvedev triumphing after coming back from a 0-2 deficit.
Playing in Halle for the ninth time, Zverev has a chance to advance to the final for the third time. However, he hasn't won the tournament yet. In 2016, he fell to Florian Mayer in the final, and in 2017, he was defeated by Roger Federer.
Source: ntv.de, ses/sid
- Tennis
- Alexander Zverev
- Halle
Insights:
- Alexander Zverev's overall head-to-head record against Daniil Medvedev stands at 3 wins to Medvedev's 16 wins as of June 22, 2025.
- On grass courts, the latest significant encounter between the two players was in the 2025 Terra Wortmann Open semifinals, which Medvedev won 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 6-4[1][4].
- While Alexander Zverev has historical struggles against Daniil Medvedev, he managed to win his most recent grass match against the Russian in 2018[1][2].
- Alexander Zverev is yet to win the grass tournament in Halle despite three prior semifinals appearances (2016, 2017, 2025)[1][3].
I'm not going to be able to easily defeat Daniil Medvedev in our upcoming tennis match, considering my past struggles against him. In fact, he's one of the toughest opponents I've ever faced in sports, let alone tennis.
