Amidst the tennis mania, what news have we had of Alexander Zverev? A.k.a., World No. 3, who has 24 ATP titles in singles but was knocked out in the first round of Wimbledon this year in a match against French player Arthur Rinderknech, whose career high was bagging the world No. 42 spot in 2022. Zverev lost the four-hour forty-minute match and didn’t seem too hopeful in the aftermath, saying in the press conference, “I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.” However, things have maybe turned around for the player as he has had some time away from this wake-up call, just to process it all.
Zverev, unlike Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik sinner, who seem to be sitting on top of the tennis food chain at the moment, had shown a lot of promise early on, but in recent years has not been able to really make a significant break into the post-Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and (fading) Novak Djokovic era and has only won one ATP 500 title this year. But after some soul-searching, Zverev seems to have found his fire and seems to be coming for Alcaraz and Sinner.
Zverev, who is currently working on his game and form, said in a recent interview with Tennis365, “At the moment, Carlos is kind of the star boy now. He just brings great energy to the court and along with Jannik, they are the players to beat. I just hope to spoil their party a little bit and I think I can do that.” Indicating that things may be going well in practice, to top that off, he also added a bit of a…backhanded compliment for Alcaraz.
Alexander Zverev se qualifie pour la demi finale à l Open d Australie Alexander Zverev – A.Zverev se qualifie pour la demi finale à l Open d Australie le 21 janvier 2025. A.Zverev qualifies for the semi-final at the Australian Open on 21 January 2025. Melbourne Australie PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxSUIxONLY Copyright: x xNicolasxLuttiau/Bestimagex xNicolasxLuttiau/Bestimagex
“Carlos is a great guy.” Zverev said of the current world No. 2, “He is fun to be around and he always has a smile on his face. If he can avoid any controversies, he is going to be very, very loved by tennis fans.” The ‘if he can avoid any controversies’ bit seems a bit pointed, considering Alcaraz himself and those around him have spoken recently about his love for partying, with Alcaraz even saying in his Netflix Documentary, “Look, in Ibiza…I’m not going to lie to you. It’s about partying and going out.” However, after this year’s Wimbledon loss, one has to wonder if the partying is serving Alcaraz well or not, which seems to be the point Zverev is making.
Alexander Zverev’s plans for the future and his tennis comeback
It looks like that swift Wimbledon exit was the shock Zverev needed to get back into shape, because ever since then he’s been training at the Rafael Nadal Academy, under none other than Toni Nadal, Rafa’s very own uncle and coach, who also has some thoughts on the subject of this World No. 3 who’s never won a Grand Slam.
“If he [Zverev] wants to win and have chances to win a Grand Slam, he needs to change a little his mentality. He can win but to win is a thing about mentality.” Toni Nadal said, indicating that the coaching Zverev is receiving at the Academy is as much mental as it is physical, and it seems to be working, because Zverev has some big plans for the future.
Alexander Zverev seems to be looking forward to taking on that Grand Slam challenge starting with this year’s US open in August. From there he’ll be back with Team Europe for the Laver Cup, which is set to take place in San Francisco in mid-September. “Laver Cup was great to be a part of and it is always a massive team effort, for sure,” Zverev said of his previous experience playing the tournament. “There are a lot of things that go into deciding which team comes out on top,” he added. This year French tennis star Yannick Noah will captain Team Europe, taking over from the legendary Bjorn Borg.
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