Alexander Zverev ranks Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on clay after his controversial comments
Alexander Zverev has compared Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s level on clay after his much discussed recent comments about the duo.
World No 1 Sinner has won the first two clay-court Masters 1000 tournaments of the season in Monte Carlo and Madrid, and he is the heavy favourite to add the Italian Open crown to his collection.
Alcaraz, who lost to Sinner in the Monte Carlo final, was forced to cut short his clay season due to a wrist injury he suffered at the Barcelona Open. The world No 2 pulled out of Madrid, Rome and the French Open.
After he was destroyed 6-1, 6-2 by Sinner in the Madrid title match, world No 3 Zverev claimed that Sinner is ahead of “everybody else” and contentiously placed himself in a category with Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
“Well, I think there’s a big gap between [Jannik] Sinner and everybody else right now,” said the German.
“It’s quite simple. I think there’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else.
“And I think there’s a big gap between [Carlos] Alcaraz, myself, maybe Novak [Djokovic], and everybody else. I think there are two gaps right now.”
More Tennis News
‘Alexander Zverev won’t be able to say he did everything he could to win a Grand Slam’
Alex Eala’s rankings rise, Carlos Alcaraz’s rankings drop and Djokovic’s injury fear
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.
In his press conference after beating Alexander Blockx in the third round at the Italian Open, Zverev was asked what difference Alcaraz‘s absence makes to him and other players.
“I mean, I think the biggest difference is probably makes for Jannik because he’s now really, really the heavy favourite,” said Zverev.
“Carlos on a clay court when he’s healthy, [is] equal or even above Jannik in favouritism, just purely on a clay court. Especially at Roland Garros, being a two-time champion there already.
“But for me, I got to focus on the things that I can control and try to improve again to try to beat Jannik. That’s the important thing.
“Getting there is also important, right? You can’t talk about someone you might face in the finals before winning the first six matches.
“For me, again, it’s about focusing on the opponents in front of me at the moment.”
The 28-year-old, who is the No 2 seed in Rome, was also asked to identify the biggest threat in his path to the final at the Foro Italico.
“There’s young guys who are playing great tennis,” Zverev said.
“[Dino] Prizmic is definitely one of them that is playing great tennis. There are the guys that we know about.
“I’m going to go match by match. That’s the most important thing, not to look too far ahead, focus on the things that you can control.
“Last week Blockx was in the semi-finals. He beat everybody. He bet Casper Ruud, Felix [Auger-Aliassime], all the favourites to go to the semi-final.
“In tennis, you never know. Each week is different. I just focus on the opponents that are in front of me.”
READ NEXT: Juan Martin del Potro and Gabriela Sabatini gives their verdict on Jack Draper’s potential
