“It was just bottomless”

His dream of his first Grand Slam title remains unfulfilled. But Zverev did not look for excuses after the seemingly close 6:7 (2:7), 6:3, 4:6, 6:7 (3:7) against the risk-taking 12th ranked player in the world. “I played terribly,” he said several times, “the serve was OK, but I felt absolutely terrible from the baseline.”

The 27-year-old from Hamburg had a particularly bad time with his backhand. “Terrible, absolutely terrible. My most reliable shot, which I normally play at three in the morning without any problems… I’m lost for words,” he said, adding: “It was unbelievable, I don’t know if I’ve ever been one of those in my career.” I think it’s the first time, and I hope it’s the last time.

Zverev, who, curiously enough, will be number two in the world rankings again from Monday, said he had already sensed during the second rally that things were not going well. “There was a point when I didn’t know what to do anymore – I have no answers. I won’t have an answer to any questions.” Despite changing rackets several times, he had no feeling for his shots.

In many rallies, Zverev played passively in his first appearance in the huge Arthur Ashe Stadium, and was unable to take advantage of small periods of weakness in his tactically clever opponent. Even winning the second set did not change his game. “My tennis did not get any better, I somehow won the second set, but nothing got better,” he said.

Zverev even seemed resigned, especially in the fourth set. Boris Becker, an expert on sportdeutschland.tv, repeatedly stated that the German number one did not exude enough conviction, “the expression is missing,” he complained. “I was not exhausted,” Zverev assured, but out of sheer uncertainty he “eventually played so defensively that I had to run ten times more than him.”