"If I win Grand Slams & become World No. 1, I’ll look back and say ‘It was all worth it'" - Alexander Zverev recalls horror French Open injury

Alexander Zverev recently recalled the horror injury he suffered at the 2022 French Open, saying that the time he spent on the sidelines because of it really helped him appreciate tennis in a way he had never done before.

Having reached the semifinals in Paris, the German locked horns with Rafael Nadal. The first set went to Nadal in a tiebreaker, after which the second set met with the same fate. However, Zvererv suffered a career-threatening ankle injury in the final point of the set, twisting it while he attempted to go for an extended return.

Wincing in pain, the former World No. 2 had to be taken off the court in a wheelchair and did not see competitive action for the rest of the year. Making his comeback at the start of the 2023 season, Zverev took plenty of time to find his footing once again, falling as low as World No. 27 at one point before making his way back.

Now set to be in action at the Vienna Open, the 26-year-old recalled his experience dealing with the injury, emphasizing that it helped him appreciate the feeling of being out there on the court once again.

While Alexander Zverev admitted that he would never want such an injury to happen again, he was grateful for it in a way as it made him grow. If he ever became the World No. 1 and a Grand Slam winner at some point in the future, the German believed that he would owe that success to that ankle injury he sustained at Roland Garros and all the things it taught him.

“I think you really appreciate the sport of tennis. You really appreciate the tough days, the fun days. You just appreciate being out there on the court, when it gets taken away from you. Most players realise that once they quit tennis because they don’t have this period, this injury. I realised it earlier on, so I’m thankful for that, but I want to get back to where I was," Alexander Zverev said in an interview on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.

“I didn’t want the injury to happen, obviously, but it did make me grow, it did make me realise what tennis actually means. If I’m back to the level, if I win Grand Slams and become World No. 1, maybe I’ll look back and say ‘It was all worth it,’" he added.

Zverev is now No. 10 in the ATP Race to Turin with a shot at qualifying for the 2023 ATP Finals, an achievement he is extremely proud of in his comeback year.

"If I make Turin, if I come back after such an injury and not playing for seven months when I was really uncertain if I was ever going to come back to the level that I was… If I come back and I’m one of the best eight players in the world, it’s a great achievement, there’s no question about it. It’s a comeback year to remember, that’s for sure," Zverev said.

Alexander Zverev: "If you want to be competitive at this sport you have to be 100 per cent healthy"

2023 US Open - Day 6

Alexander Zverev also touched on his poor form at the start of the year, stating that he was still dealing with pain at the time and therefore, not able to move on the court as smoothly as he would have liked.

“I think for me it’s just being healthy. I think at the beginning of the year I was still managing pain, I was still dealing with pain. I was not moving the way I wanted to move, I was not sliding around the court, if you look back at the matches that I played. It was more that for me," Alexander Zverev said.

The German added:

“If you want to be competitive at this sport you have to be 100 per cent healthy, you need to be moving the way you want to on the tennis court. For me to be able to do that, I need to be pain-free."

Zverev has won two trophies in 2023 so far -- one in Hamburg and one in Chengdu, for a career-total of 21 ATP titles.