Zverev Turned Away From Zuma: The Bad Night Began Before The Court

Alexander Zverev was turned away at the entrance of Zuma, the Japanese restaurant on Via della Fontanella di Borghese in Rome, on Monday evening around 10:15 PM. The German, world number 3, showed up without a reservation along with his brother Mischa and a friend, and the staff, not recognizing him, applied the house rule: no reserved table, no entry.

The scene was recounted by former MP Andrea Ruggieri, a guest on the TennisTalker podcast. "I went to dinner on the Zuma terrace and at the entrance I saw an incredible scene. Alexander Zverev with his brother Mischa, left outside the door," Ruggieri explained, offering to let him in under his own reservation. Another hitch there: the table was for two, not five. After a brief negotiation without raising his voice, the group managed to get in.

In Ruggieri's account, Zverev came across as "extremely polite" but visibly embarrassed by the situation. The restaurant, contacted by Repubblica, replied only with a "no comment".

The rough night didn't stop at the restaurant door. The next day, on Centre Court at the Foro Italico, Zverev wasted four match points against Luciano Darderi and was reeled back in 1-6, 7-6, 6-0 in two hours and twenty-five minutes, going out in the round of 16 at the Internazionali against an opponent picking up his first career win over a top 10. There's a thin, almost comic thread linking the two scenes: in Rome, in one week, the world number 3 was recognized neither by the doorman of a sushi bar nor, in the end, by the draw.