World No. 2 Alexander Zverev is progressing from his ankle surgery and said Thursday he’s still hopeful of playing in the upcoming U.S. Open.

Zverev said he is about 10 days away from making a decision.

“Of course I will still try to make the U.S. Open,” he said at a press conference in Hamburg, Germany. “Although it will be very, very close.”

The German star underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right ankle on June 8. He was hurt five days earlier during a French Open semifinal loss to Rafael Nadal and had to be removed from the court via a wheelchair.

Zverev recently returned to the court and posted footage of one of his workouts in Monte Carlo on social media. He lives in Monte Carlo.

He also knows he doesn’t have a lot of remaining time to get into prime tennis condition. The U.S. Open starts on Aug. 29.

“Maybe I could say I’m ready. Best-of-five is difficult,” Zverev said. “Every day it really gets better. That’s why I don’t want to say yet that I won’t play the U.S. Open.”

Zverev, 25, has never won a Grand Slam. He came close in 2020 when he won the first two sets in the U.S. Open final before Dominic Thiem of Austria recovered to win the best-of-five match. Zverev did win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Zverev also said he plans to play for Germany’s Davis Cup team in his hometown of Hamburg from Sept. 13-18 in Group C competition that includes Australia, Belgium and France.

“We are a strong team,” Zverev told DavisCup.com. “If we play with our best players, we can go deep and even win the Davis Cup. There is nothing better than playing before a packed home stadium.”

–Field Level Media