PARIS—Alexander Zverev, who was upset in the first round at the French Open by Fernando Verdasco, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, didn't hold back when asked what had made the difference in his center-court contest.
“I played absolute s--- made the difference,” said the 20-year-old. "It's quite simple."
The No. 10-ranked and ninth-seeded Zverev just won the clay-court Masters tournament in Rome, defeating 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the final, and was a popular dark-horse pick at Roland Garros.
Zverev and Verdasco split the first two sets of their match on Monday before play was called due to darkness. But in the two sets played on Tuesday, Zverev grew angry, breaking two racquets.
In his press conference, Zverev looked to the positives of what's unquestionably been a good season for him.
“You sometimes play bad. It's just this is our sport,” Zverev said. “There is no regrets. In Rome I played fantastic, I won the tournament. Here I played bad, I lost first round. That's the way it goes. The world doesn't stop now. I'm still No. 4 in the race to London, and I'm still doing okay this year. I won three tournaments so far."
"I lost a match, but pretty much everybody loses a match every single week they play. I should be concerned the way I played and the way I performed, but it's nothing to be tragic about.”