Alexander Zverev did not have the support of his girlfriend Sophia Thomalla to draw upon during his shock first-round defeat at Wimbledon to the world No72 Arthur Rinderknech, reports in Germany have confirmed.
The number-three seed has struggled for form in the wake of the Australian Open final he played against eventual champion Jannik Sinner in January.
But the German star arrived in SW19 was a bullish assertion that he was one of the strongest players in the draw ahead of an anticipated deep run.
Instead, Zverev fell in five gritty sets to the Frenchman with the final score 7-6 (3), 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, their contest played across two days after their match on Monday night was paused due to the Wimbledon curfew.
After the match, the 29-year-old was open about how ‘lonely’ he was feeling, not just on court, but in life.
As per German outlet BILD, Zverev’s defeat came while Thomalla, an influencer and television presenter, was reportedly filming commercials in their native country.
Alexander Zverev made a shock exit from Wimbledon after just one match with defeat to Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech
His girlfriend Sophia Thomalla was absent from his players’ box due to work commitments
Thomalla previously attended Zverev’s pre-Wimbledon tournament at Halle two weeks ago
Thomalla last accompanied him to his pre-Wimbledon tune-up tournament in Halle, where Zverev reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by Daniil Medvedev.
The 35-year-old began dating the world No3 in 2021, and Thomalla has accompanied the player to a number of Grand Slam tournaments during their globe-trotting relationship.
Thomalla found herself the focus of advice given to the German No1 by his compatriot Boris Becker after his defeat at Roland-Garros last month, as he called upon the burnt-out player to take some time away from the sport to fix his mental game.
‘Father (Alexander Snr, former player and his coach) wanted to play all the time, brother (Misha, another former player) too.
‘And Sascha has to learn to put an end to it, to go on vacation, spend time with his daughter, his girlfriend Sophia (Thomalla), to get away from tennis.
‘Otherwise, it will burn out, it will become “ballaballa”.’
‘Ballaballa’ is a largely untranslatable German phrase which suggests a nonsensical plan, and felt apt for Zverev’s feelings of hopelessness after his defeat to Rinderknech.
‘I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally,’ Zverev shared. ‘I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open. I’m trying to find ways, trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way.
Thomalla and Zverev have been together since 2021 and she frequently travels to his matches
The 35-year-old found herself the focus of advice given to Zverev by Boris Becker after his French Open defeat
In the wake of his loss to Rinderknech, Zverev admitted that he was considering talk therapy
‘I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.
‘It’s not a feeling on a tennis court, it’s just a life feeling in general,’ he continued. ‘As I said, I never felt this way before. It’s difficult to find joy outside the tennis court for me at the moment.
‘It’s not an excuse or anything. I think Arthur deserved to win today. It’s nothing that. It’s something I’ve felt for the past few months.
‘Again, I just feel generally very, very alone and very lonely. I don’t know. Just never felt that way before. I don’t have the answers right now.
When asked if he had considered therapy, he added: ‘Maybe for the first time in my life I’ll probably need it.
‘I’ve been through a lot of difficulties. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in the media. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in life generally.
‘I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.
‘Even when I’m winning, even when I’m winning like in Stuttgart or Halle, it’s not necessarily a feeling that I used to get where I was happy, over the moon, I felt motivated to keep going.
‘It’s just not there right now for me, which, again, is the first time in my life which I’m feeling.’
As well as marking his last appearance in a Grand Slam final, the climax of the Australian Open also saw Zverev heckled by a member of the crowd during the trophy presentation.
The Australian Open final saw Zverev heckled by a protestor stating that Australia ‘believes Olya and Brenda’
The runner-up was dismissive of the protestors called and asserted that there are no more accusations against him
A woman repeatedly shouted: ‘Australia believes Olya and Brenda’ before being removed by the crowd, in reference to two cases of domestic assault that Zverev had been accused of.
In 2020 Olya Sharypova, a former girlfriend of Zverev, posted on Instagram accusing him of assaulting her multiple times, allegations she expanded upon in interviews.
Sharypova did not go to the police but the ATP instituted a 15-month, independent investigation. In 2023 it was announced that Zverev would face no punishment as there was insufficient evidence to support Sharypova’s claims.
Before dating Thomalla, Zverev was in a relationship with Brenda Patea, who accused him in 2023 of domestic abuse in 2020.
In May last year, separate accusations of domestic abuse from Brenda Patea, the mother of Zverev’s daughter, went to a German court.
The case was later settled, with the court telling the BBC: ‘The decision is not a verdict, and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence.
‘One decisive factor for the court decision was that the witness has expressed her wish to end the trial. The defendant agreed to the termination of the case.’
When asked about the protestor during the presentation, Zverev said: ‘I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now.
‘Good for her. I think she was the only one in the stadium who believed anything in that moment. If that’s the case, good for her.
‘I think I’ve done everything I can, and I’m not about to open that subject again.’