Alexander Zverev smashed his racket and vented angrily to his coaching team during his defeat to a guy who “can barely f****** walk” during Germany’s defeat to Poland at the United Cup.
The 2026 season got off to a positive start for Zverev as he steered Germany to a 3-0 win over the Netherlands in the Group F opener, but 24 hours later it all went pear-shaped as they lost by a similar scoreline in Sydney.
Zverev went down 6-3, 6-4 against Hubert Hurkacz before Iga Swiatek defeated Eva Lys in straight sets. To add insult to injury, Zverev and Laura Siegemund lost the mixed doubles clash against Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski as Poland secured a clean sweep.
The world No 3 cut a frustrated figure throughout his singles match against Hurkacz, who was playing his first competitive match since last June due to a long-standing knee injury.
It was an impressive service display from the Pole after a long period on the sidelines as he served 21 aces, didn’t commit any double faults and won 85% of his first serve points.
Hurkacz converted one break point in each set while he saved the only break point Zverev had.
The frustrations boiled over for the German during the first set as he told his coach and father, Alexander Zverev Senior, during a changeover: “Why am I not serving? No, he hasn’t played for two f****** years, and he’s serving at 230 km/h.
“In the evening, when it’s cold, f***, it’s f****** crazy. The guy can barely f****** walk, and he’s serving.”
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Things didn’t get better in the second set and at one point he threw his racket on the ground, cracking the frame.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been competing. Seven months I’ve been going through difficult times with the team and it was very challenging,” Hurkacz said.
“They were all supporting me, they were all behind me. We went through definitely a long period of time not competing and not knowing when we [would] be able to be back on court again. I was just trying to cherish and enjoy every moment here on the court today.”
He added: “I was serving quite well. I was finding nice spots, so that’s definitely a nice feeling to really have good rhythm on the serve. Just so pleased with the performance and just also so much fun to see the fans again.”