‘More difficult than a slam’: Zverev digs deep with no sleep as Germany win United Cup

Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz were about to take out the second set when Boris Becker tweeted.

“Watching the final of the @UnitedCupTennis and I am absolutely intrigued with this format (needless to say supporting Germany),” he wrote at 12.38am Sydney time. “As we speak, we have deciding rubber tie-break and biting my nails ... love it!!!”

The deciding super tie-break ended all deciding tie-breaks because it ended the United Cup. Germany should not have won, which of course means Germany won. The mixed doubles team of Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund polished off Poland 6-4, 5-7, 10-4.

Germany should not have won because Swiatek had set her country up to win by beating Angelique Kerber in their opening singles rubber. Germany should not have won because when Zverev took to the court for what was at that point a must-win singles clash, he had already played seven hours longer than Hurkacz throughout the week-long tournament and had about 12 hours less recovery time than his opponent following Saturday’s semi-finals.

And Germany should not have won because, after the world No.7 had inconceivably come back from a set down and saved two match points and gone on to win a three-hour epic 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4, he just as inconceivably decided to press ahead and play the doubles – his sixth match in three days – which they should not have won but did.

The whole thing was, as Becker observed, nail-bitingly tense. That was partly down to the tweaked format in the team tournament’s second edition, down from five matches per tie to three and condensed into a single session rather than last year’s split rubbers.

Zverev’s sense of smell must be immaculate because the oily rag kept him going for longer than any human body should. The man has been holding on for a full 24 hours. Last night’s timetable was almost identical.

By the time he was done losing to Alex de Minaur in the singles and then backing up straight afterwards to defeat Australia in a knife-edge doubles encounter, it was well after 2am and he was cramping. He said the physio was working on him until 5.30am. He said he did not fall asleep until nearly 6am.

The man had no right to be standing upright after 1am a day later. He had no right to be moseying around Ken Rosewall Arena with that hallmark air of insouciance, saving two match points – two United Cup points – one with passing shot that caught the line by a couple of millimetres.

“I feel like this format, especially the last three days where I had to play six matches in three days, it’s probably even more difficult than a slam, to be honest,” Zverev said. “Because in a slam yes, you might be playing five sets, but you always have a day in between and you always kind of get the recovery.

Germany’s Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev celebrate after defeating Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz in the final of the United Cup in Sydney.Credit: AP

“You always get, you know, not back to 100 per cent, but you go back to 90 per cent, 95 per cent, sometimes 80 per cent. Here you don’t have time. Yesterday - it’s yesterday already - I went to bed at 5.45am. I have to still get up out of bed and not feeling great, still play two matches.

“Physically it is a very difficult event, for sure. To be honest, this trophy makes it all worth it. Winning it with this team makes it all worth it.”

Before Hurkacz lost that singles match, Poland had won 11 of their 12 United Cup rubbers. Poland having world No.1 Swiatek on the team was, as Zverev said during the presentation ceremony, “like having a cheat code on a video game”. The 22-year-old was named player of the tournament and will be tough to stop come the Australian Open.

Her 16th consecutive win on Sunday was made more difficult than the 6-3, 6-0 scoreline suggested, having been pushed by Kerber on return from a maternity layoff, the 35-year-old fresh off her comeback win over Australia’s Alja Tomljanovic on Saturday.

“This is the perfect comeback, to be honest,” Kerber said. “I feel the energy again. I feel the emotion. This is what I have been missing the last 18 months.”

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