Alexander Zverev was in the headlines during the tennis lockdown. First, when he took part in the ill-fated Adria Tour with Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, and Grigor Dimitrov when he was spotted at a party breaking quarantine rules.

The Adria Tour was heavily criticized as it lacked basic precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It resulted in four players getting infected with the virus. Zverev has now apologized for the event after his second round match at the Western and Southern Open.

“Extremely unfortunate and unreliable of us” – Alexander Zverev

The tour even had a kids’ day with 5,000 children taking part and a stadium filled with people without masks who weren’t observing social distancing guidelines either. Zverev agreed that it wasn’t the “smartest thing” to do and that it was “extremely unfortunate” and “unreliable” of them.

“Yes, I made a mistake with the Adria Tour and then also with the birthday party. I made a huge mistake. To have a kids day with 5000 children or to play in front of a full audience was perhaps not the smartest thing ever,” Zverev said.

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After the Adria Tour, Zverev had pledged to stay quarantined. But after a few days, he was seen at a birthday party for which he faced a lot of criticism. In light of this, he canceled his start at an invitation tournament in Berlin. “That was after the Adria Tour, and my manager told me: you’d better stay home,” he said.

“Weird Results”: Alexander Zverev Cites Dominic Thiem’s Loss to Justify Tough Loss

Since tennis has now returned, Zverev will want to improve his performance. He lost to former World No.1 Andy Murray. For the past few years, Murray has been dealing with injuries and hence, Zverev was the favorite going into the tie.

Given that Zverev reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open this year, he would have hoped for a better restart to the season. This loss gives him extra days to prepare for the US Open and gives him the chance to come back stronger.