Alexander Zverev told he is ‘not playing tennis properly at the moment’
Alexander Zverev has been urged to be honest with himself and not “blame bad luck, bad fortune, wind or too hot a sun” for his current woes.
The 26-year-old appeared to have the world at his feet 12 months ago as he finished runner-up at the Madrid Open, made the semi-final of the Italian Open and also reached the last four at Roland Garros.
However, he suffered a horrific ankle injury during his clash against Rafael Nadal in Paris and missed the remainder of the season as he underwent surgery.
The German finally made his comeback at the start of the year, but it has been an uphill battle with his best display a semi-final in Dubai. He has suffered a string of early exits since then with last week’s drubbing at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid raising further concerns about his form.
Tennis legend Boris Becker says feels Zverev should be self-critical and go back to the basics by training better.
“That’s in the past, and 12 months later, the stark reality is brutal. That’s the sport. He is fit again but can’t manage to match the form he had a year ago. There are many reasons for that,” he told Eurosport Germany’s Das Gelbe vom Ball podcast.
“What is important, and he is always extremely self-critical, is that he realises this, that he is honest with himself and doesn’t blame bad luck, bad fortune, wind or too hot a sun – but the fact that he doesn’t play enough.
“I am sure he will address this in his team and then also train better again. In my opinion, Zverev is not playing tennis properly at the moment.”
Zverev – who has slipped to No 16 in the ATP Rankings – has made no secret of the fact that he wants to win Grand Slams and he challenged the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the past, but he now has fresh competition.
Besides Alcaraz, the likes of Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz now all seemingly ahead of him in the queue.
“The focus now is no longer on the big three: Nadal, Djokovic and Federer. Sascha has to look in the rear-view mirror and he is, unfortunately, being a bit overtaken by the younger players. We have talked a lot about Alcaraz, but I also mention Sinner, Rune and Fritz,” Becker added.
“Last but not least, there is Sebastian Korda, who was badly injured in Melbourne, but whom I have on my list. They will play for Grand Slams in the future. That’s the problem.
“You have a window in your career in which you have to win the first Grand Slams because the competition never sleeps. With Sascha, that didn’t happen for various reasons.
“He now has to look at why the new generation of players mentioned is so good, what they do better and what is different. Do I have to change or adapt my game?
“Let’s take the pressure that Sascha develops with his strokes, especially over the backhand and on serve. So, suddenly you have four others who also play with a lot of pressure from the baseline, but they are five years younger.
“In addition, they haven’t had any negative experiences yet, and they come to the tournaments as fresh as a daisy. They know they haven’t even played here yet or they were in the qualifying last year. So it can only go up, which means less pressure.”
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