Indian Wells: Ailing world No.3 Alexander Zverev crashed out of the ATP Indian Wells Masters, where Novak Djokovic’s third round match was suspended by rain with one game completed.
Jan-Lennard Struff, ranked 55th in the world, notched his first victory over Zverev in five tries, breaking him once in the first set and three times in the second for a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
“I’ve been sick for a week,” said the 21-year-old Zverev, who lost the Acapulco final to Australian Nick Kyrgios the week before Indian Wells began. “That hasn’t changed, unfortunately.”
“I think I just got unlucky, I got a virus somewhere and that’s how it is,” he added.
Zverev, the owner of three Masters 1000 titles who has never made it to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, said he would now focus on recuperating and preparing for the Miami Masters, where he’ll be hoping to improve on his runner-up finish to John Isner last year.
“Now it’s about getting healthy and about recovering and preparing myself for Miami, because Miami is the tournament I do well in, history-wise,” he said. “Here I have always struggled.”
World No.1 Novak Djokovic, playing his first tournament since grabbing a record seventh Australian Open title in January, completed just one game against unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber before rain swept across the California desert.
The duo were sent to the locker room and with no break in the weather in sight organizers suspended play for the night, with the match to resume Tuesday.
The winner will face in-form Frenchman Gael Monfils, who rolled past Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-0, 6-3.
AFP