Why Alexander Zverev’s Roland Garros win is one of the most impressive Grand Slam victories in recent memory
Alexander Zverev’s victory at Roland Garros has already been tarnished, with fans believing it was largely due to the top players falling by the wayside.
The Grand Slam began without Carlos Alcaraz, due to a wrist injury he suffered at the Barcelona Open, and several other top players exited the tournament early.
Jannik Sinner, the overwhelming favourite to win the Grand Slam, was stunningly defeated in the second round by Juan Manuel Cerundolo, despite being two sets and a break up.
Novak Djokovic followed, as he was superbly dispatched by Joao Fonseca in five sets in what was inarguably the best match of the entire tournament.
While Zverev did not necessarily have to beat the best players in the world to claim his maiden Grand Slam victory, he did do something that no one else could: deal with two weather extremes in Paris.
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The first week of the tournament was shrouded by incredible heat, with temperatures reaching the mid-thirties for much of the first seven days of the tournament.
The German played at different times across that first week, with both day and evening sessions, and he rarely struggled while others faltered.
Sinner expressed his issues were not caused by the heat, but several other players, including the likes of Jakub Mensik, practically melted in the Paris heat.
Zverev, meanwhile, remained ice cool despite the sweltering heats.
“ I like heat. I always have,” Zverev said in his post-match press conference after defeating Jesper de Jong in straight sets.
“I have always felt comfortable in the heat. Overall I think there has been brutal matches, there has been very tough conditions. But those kind of matches and things would have been brutal anyway, with how long they were and how the rallies were.”
After cooly dealing with the heat in week one, Zverev also looked unphased by the blustery conditions that took over during the latter stages of the Grand Slam.
Alexander Zverev’s run to the Roland Garros title
- 1R: Benjamin Bonzi
- 2R: Tomas Machac
- 3R: Quentin Halys
- 4R: Jesper de Jong
- QF: Rafael Jodar
- SF: Jakub Mensik
- F: Flavio Cobolli
Speaking on Sky Sports commentary during Zverev’s semi-final with Mensik, Naomi Cavaday said: “It’s been like two separate tournaments in terms of conditions.
“The heat wave of the first week to these cool, pretty breezy conditions, we’ve had this week. It makes such a massive difference to how the ball reacts. The exact same shot are coming in at 10cms lower this week than last. It’s about having to make those adjustments.”
For this reason alone, Zverev’s sole Grand Slam victory should absolutely be considered one of the more impressive of the modern era.
He might not have beaten a player ranked inside the top five, or answered his critics when it comes to challenging Alcaraz or Sinner, but Zverev’s ability to adapt should absolutely be heralded.
While the very best players on both the ATP and WTA Tour fell by the wayside, Zverev proved himself to be incredible adaptive on the clay of Roland Garros.
For that alone, Zverev’s victory should be considered incredible impressive.
