Recent individual Olympic champion in Tokyo, German Alexander Zverev announced on Wednesday that he would not participate in the Davis Cup tennis, scheduled in November.
The German assured that he needed a break despite the fact that Germany is part of the 18 countries that will be in the competition, which takes place over a week.
«I am human and I need vacations. We play from January to October and I will not play in November, “the world number 5 told the press in his country.
Zverev, 24, assured that he would play the Davis Cup again if he returned to his old format, consisting of several weekends during the year.
After defeating Novak Djokovic (No. 1) in three sets in the semi-finals, Zverev defeated Russian Karen Khachanov to win the Olympic tournament in Japan.
The announcement of his retirement from Davis comes amid a shower of casualties on the men’s and women’s circuits, highlighting the absence of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic at the Toronto Masters 1000. The Williams sisters and compatriot Sofia Kenin (No. 4) will also not be in Cincinnati (August 16-22). (AFP)