Zverev battled a cough during the match and reported a fever of 100.4 degrees from the night before.
After dropping his fourth-round match against Jannik Sinner on Sunday, Alexander Zverev drew attention for his comments during a post-match interview, in which he said he played while feeling "completely sick."
"I can’t really breathe, as you can hear by my voice. I had fever as well," Zverev said, per Julio Vegas of USA Today. "Yeah, I’m not in the best physical state, I would say. I think that had a little bit of an effect on the match today.”
Zverev, who was the tournament's No. 6 seed, lost in four sets, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6.
According to the French Tennis Federation, Zverev was last tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday, with the results coming back negative on Wednesday. Tournament protocols require Zverev to report any symptoms, which he reportedly did not do prior to Sunday's match. Zverev said he had a 100.4-degree fever and began feeling sick on Friday night. He battled a cough during the match, and at one point was tended to by medical officials to receive a nasal spray and a pill, according to Julien Pretot of Reuters.
“To be honest, I warmed up today: I shouldn’t have played,” Zverev said. “I was hoping maybe for a three-set win or something like that, but I knew from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be easy.”