Defending champion Alexander Zverev out of Cincinnati Masters

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• ATP Tennis

World No. 2 Alexander Zverev has withdrawn from the Cincinnati Masters. Zverev, 25, won't be making his eighth main draw appearance at the Cincinnati Masters.

Cincinnati update:
OUT: Zverev
IN: Bonzi
Next: Kyrgios (would free up a WC) — Entry List Updates (@EntryLists) August 8, 2022

Zverev, who tore several ligaments in his ankle during his French Open semifinal versus Rafael Nadal, is not ready yet to return to action.

After withdrawing from this week's Montreal Masters, Zverev is also set to skip Cincinnati, which starts next week. The Zverev withdrawal means that Cincinnati will be getting a new champion this year. Last year, Zverev lifted his first Cincinnati title after beating Andrey Rublev in the final.

Zverev has returned to the practice court

Zverev is skipping the start of the North American hard court swing but the positive news is that he has returned to the practice court. In an interview with German media, Zverev revealed that he was "very careful" in his first practice back.

But most importantly, Zverev didn't feel any pain during his first practice. "Of course I moved very carefully, I haven't built up any pressure on my foot yet, but it's just good news that I really haven't had any pain at all - now we can move on," Zverev told n-tv.de.

Zverev is set to skip a good portion of the North American hard court swing but there is still a chance he will compete at the US Open. However, Zverev doesn't want to make any decisions just yet as he wants to give himself more time before he decides where he will return.

"It's too early [to make a decision about the US Open], I played tennis for the first time now," Zverev noted. The US Open is the only tournament where Zverev has reached a Grand Slam final. In 2020, Zverev missed out on a golden chance to win his first Grand Slam as he blew a two-set lead in the US Open final versus Dominic Thiem. This year's US Open starts on August 29.