French Open 2022 - 'Sascha wants to stop Carlos Alcaraz's momentum' - Mischa Zverev backs brother in quarter-final
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Updated 31/05/2022 at 08:44 GMT
"Carlos Alcaraz is the wild youngster who was the underdog six months ago. Now he's suddenly the favourite" - Mischa Zverev says his brother Alexander wants to put the breaks on the Alcaraz's meteoric rise by beating the Spaniard in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros. Alexander Zverev takes on Alcaraz on Tuesday afternoon ahead of Novak Djokovic's clash with Rafael Nadal
Watch as Zverev closes out victory to reach French Open quarter-finals
Mischa Zverev says his brother Alexander wants to put a stop to Carlos Alcaraz's momentum in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
World number three Alexander Zverev, also known as Sascha, is a US Open finalist and reached the last four in Paris 12 months ago.
But the German finds himself the underdog for his quarter-final clash against Alcaraz on Tuesday following the Spaniard's meteoric and rapid rise to tennis' elite.
After reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2021, Alcaraz went on to win the Miami Open and Madrid Open in 2022, beating Zverev in the final of the latter in straight sets.
But Zverev's brother says Alexander is desperate to put the breaks on Alcaraz's phenomenal year with a win in Paris.
"Sascha likes to win, he likes to beat good opponents," Mischa Zverev told Eurosport Germany.
"Alcaraz is the wild youngster who was the underdog six months ago. Now he's suddenly the favourite.
"Something has already happened in the last few months and Sascha - like all the other established players - wants to stop this momentum. They say: 'No, no, it's too early! You can still play well in the next ten years, but now we have to beat you a few more times.' And from Sascha's point of view, hopefully that will happen in Paris in the quarter-finals."
The draw at Roland Garros has faced criticism with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Zverev and Alcaraz all in the top half.
Nadal and Djokovic are set to play their own quarter-final on Tuesday, and Mischa Zverev criticised the breakdown that could see just one of the top four in the last four.
"We see there in the top half 21 Grand Slam titles against 20 Grand Slam titles - in the quarter-finals," he added.
"And the second match is Alcaraz against Sascha - who will hopefully and probably celebrate one or the other Grand Slam title in the future. This breakdown is unbelievable."
And while Alexander Zverev has no issue with a competitive route to the final, he is more preoccupied with the amount of time Alcaraz is spending on the main stage of Phillipe Chatrier, .
“We [Carlos Alcaraz and myself] have Novak and Rafael on our side of the tournament. And it is normal, if they are on your side of the tournament they get what they want, and that’s okay. One of them won 20 Grand Slams, the other 21. And that is proper. That is totally fine for me.
“But it is very interesting to see that Alcaraz gets what he wants. We all have played a couple of times on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Myself three times, Novak twice, even Rafa. But Alcaraz plays every match on Philippe Chatrier.
“I get that he is the exciting new mega talent in tennis. I am still the No. 3 in the world, but this is nothing about me.
“We have Rafa and Novak on our side of the tournament and they need to make room, so that somebody else can play on the main court that hasn’t already multiple times. This is extremely interesting for me.”
Zverev faces Alcaraz in the third match on Chatrier on Tuesday after women’s quarter-finals between Leylah Fernandez and Martina Trevisan, and Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff.
Nadal takes on Djokovic in the evening session.
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