Zverev blames illness for dip in energy during Australian Open loss

MELBOURNE : Alexander Zverev said his energy began to fade midway through his five-sets Australian Open semi-final loss to Daniil Medvedev on Friday and blamed an illness following his win over Carlos Alcaraz in the last round.

Zverev was two points from a win after going up 5-4 in the fourth set tiebreak before crashing to a 5-7 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 defeat but the German said his issues began earlier.

"End of the second set I started to lose energy. I started to not feel so fresh anymore," Zverev told reporters. "I got a bit sick after the Alcaraz match with a bit of fever so that didn't help the recovery and I did play quite a lot.

"Against him (Medvedev), it's impossible to play when you're not 100 per cent physically, because he's literally someone that really doesn't give you anything.

"He makes you work for every single point and once you can't really do that anymore, it becomes difficult. I was close in the third and fourth sets, but I wasn't the same player as I was the first two sets anymore. I was just hanging on."

There were many frustrating moments for Zverev during the match, including one where he smashed the net with his racket at 2-2 in the decider after missing a volley.

He was also asked about his defeat from two sets up in the 2020 U.S. Open final by Dominic Thiem, but said Friday's loss was different.

"It's more frustrating that I didn't feel 100 per cent physically. It took the chance away," Zverev said. "I lost it because of a physical state, not because of tennis."

Zverev said an upcoming court case in Germany on physical abuse charges had not affected his concentration.

The 26-year-old, who rejects the allegations, is due to appear before a Berlin court on May 31 on charges of abusing his former