Bulgarian tennis federation made an enormous gift to the Bulgarian tennis fans for the upcoming eighth edition of the ATP 250 Sofia Open 2023. After intensive negotiations the management of the competition secured the participation of Alexander Zverev.
The German, who is ranked this week No. 9 in the world, will play for the first time in Bulgaria, and in Sofia. He will try to secure his participation in the ATP Finals in Turin, starting on November 12.
Zverev’s presence in Sofia became possible after special permission from the ATP. Following the withdraws of Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, the Sofia Open has been put into “emergency” mode due to the withdraws of two of the three top-ranked players. This allowed a non-applicant competitor to be brought in without requiring a “wild card”.
Due to serious efforts of the tournament managment, Zverev agreed to participate. He will lead the draw in Sofia.
Zverev is 26 years old. He is of Russian origin, but he was born and raised in Germany, under whose flag he became Olympic champion two years ago in Tokyo.
His best world ranking is #2 since last June.
In his career, Zverev has won 21 tournament titles, the last of which came in September in Chengdu (China). In Grand Slam tournaments, his best result is the final of the US Open when he led 2-0 against Dominic Thiem but allowed a reversal. He has reached five more semi-finals and four quarter-finals.
