Zverev on Alcaraz: 'He played fantastic'

pAfter a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexander-zverev/z355/overview'Alexander Zverev/a lost a tough five-set match in the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'Roland Garros/a final on Sunday to a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a, he was quick to praise his opponent./p

pldquo;Look, he played fantastic. He played better than me the fourth and fifth set. It's how it is,rdquo; Zverev said. ldquo;I felt like this Grand Slam final I did everything I could. At the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a I kind of gave it away myself. It's a bit different.rdquo;/p

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pThe German reached his first major final at the 2020 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a. Then 23, Zverev led a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dominic-thiem/tb69/overview'Dominic Thiem/a by two sets and served for the championship in the fifth set before falling in a final-set tie-break. /p

pThis occasion was different. Alcaraz had an opportunity to serve for a two-sets-to-one lead before Zverev stormed back to seize the advantage./p

pUltimately, it was the Spaniard who claimed the momentum in the fourth set and never relinquished it. Alcaraz is now 11-1 in five-set matches./p

pldquo;We're both physically strong, but he's a beast. He's an animal, for sure. The intensity he plays tennis at is different to other people. He can do so many different things,rdquo; Zverev said. ldquo;I think he changed his tactic a lot in the fifth set, started to play a lot higher, a lot deeper for me to not create as much power. Especially with the shadows on the court, it was slower again. But he's a fantastic player, and physically he's fantastic./p

pldquo;So I have to look at myself and I have to look at the team that I have and see what I can do to become the same level.rdquo;/p

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pAlcaraz earned four service breaks through the first three sets, with Zverev doing well to control play behind his big first serve. But the 21-year-old Spaniard broke serve five times in the final two sets to triumph after four hours and 19 minutes./p

pldquo;I lost focus, and on my serve I didn't get the power from my legs anymore, which is weird, because normally I do not get tired. I don't cramp, I don't get tired normally,rdquo; Zverev said. ldquo;But again, against Carlos it's a different intensity, so maybe that was the case a bit. Yeah, maybe I have to look at my preparation. Maybe I have to look at how I do things on a physical base as well./p

pldquo;Of course, look, I felt from the tennis level I was playing decent and he was playing decent for three sets. Then I dropped a lot.rdquo;/p

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