Alexander Zverev reveals how Roger Federer’s French Open absence has helped him
GETTY Alexander Zverev will be hoping to go further than his previous third round best
Zverev beat Lithuania’s Ricardo Berankis in straight sets on Sunday for the loss of just four games to book his place in the second round. The German has only once strung together more than one win in a row at Roland Garros and is hoping to end his career Grand Slam quarter-final drought this fortnight. And his path into the last eight has been made that little bit easier by the absence of world No 2 Federer because it means Zverev, ranked one place below him, is right at the bottom of the draw, where the Swiss would otherwise have been.
GETTY Roger Federer has become a lesser-spotted figure on clay since 2015
“It means that you've been playing well throughout the whole year, and you deserve that spot a little bit. But the seedings don't matter,” Zverev said after his opening day victory. “When you go out there on-court, you try to win, and that's the only thing. “You try to beat the other guy who is on the other side, and it doesn't matter if you're ranked No 2 in the world, it doesn't matter if you're ranked 50 or 80 in the world. “The same thing goes for everybody. On clay especially I have been playing well.
“During all the tournaments I have played on clay so far, the worst I did was semi-finals of a Masters in Monaco. That's not a bad preparation. “I have won two tournaments, made the finals in Rome; again, losing to Rafael [Nadal] in a close match. “I feel good, and today was a good start to the tournament, and I'm happy the way it's going so far.” Zverev has enjoyed one of his best seasons on clay including 13-match winning streak on the surface, picking up titles in Munich and Madrid along the way.