Alexander Zverev sends a message to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner after big rankings leap
Alexander Zverev booked his spot in the Paris Masters final by beating Holger Rune in straight sets and then he admitted he set his sights on finding a way to down Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev reached his first hard-court final of the season with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over 2022 champion Rune in one hour and 47 minutes.
The German broke in the fourth game of the first set and saved two break points in the fifth on the way to winning the opener and one break looked to be enough in the second as well, but the world number three failed to serve out the match when leading 5-4.
However, he recovered to win the tie-break and reach his second Paris Masters final after being beaten by Daniil Medvedev in the 2020 showpiece.
“I feel like I made it a little difficult for myself but he is a champion,” Zverev told the ATP website.
“It is probably his favourite tournament and favourite court, but I am happy to be in my second final here. I am looking forward to it.”
Zverev also admitted in his press conference that he is looking to make improvements to his game that he hopes will allow him to compete with Sinner and Alcaraz at the upcoming ATP Finals and heading into 2025.
His run in Paris will see Zverev match his career-high ranking of No 2 when the updated list is released on Monday, but he accepts the ‘Big 2’ of Alcaraz and Sinner are a step ahead of him after they shared the four Grand Slam between them this year.
“For me, it’s about improving a few things,” said Zverev.
“I feel like, you know, Jannik and Carlos, you know, they are doing a few things better than me at the moment. I want to improve.
“I want to improve not for tomorrow, not for today or, you know, because of the matches I played here. I want to generally improve for next year as well.
“That’s the reason I do take this as a lot of practice here in this week, and I want to improve my game for next year, as well.
“I think in tennis you always have to improve. If you’re standing still, you’re going to go backwards because the other players are also improving.
“I feel like they are so aggressive. I think tennis is going towards that direction.
“I think when they get an easy ball, when they’re in an attacking position, 90% of the time the point is over, whether it’s a winner or an unforced error.
“That’s how hard they hit the ball, that’s how aggressive they are. I think in that aspect I can improve. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
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He went on to outline how Alcaraz and Sinner and improved their game in a detailed analysis of his two big rivals.
“Jannik has improved a lot this year,” he added. “There are some things Carlos has improved, as well.
“I think Novak (Djokovic), over the past 15, 20 years, has improved every single year. If you ask him whether he’s a better tennis player last year, let’s say 2023 or 2022 even, or, you know, 10 years ago when he was younger, I think he would say that he’s a better tennis player now, you know.
“I think that’s because everybody tries to improve. If you’re not improving, you’re standing still. I want to achieve my biggest goals still. For that, I know I have to get better, because for now it has not been good enough.”
Zverev will face Ugo Humbert in the final after the Frenchman beat Karen Khachanov 6-7 (6) 6-4 6-3.
Humbert, who knocked out Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the tournament, became the fifth Frenchman to reach the Paris Masters final.
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