Alexander Zverev makes some startling comments after shock Wimbledon exit
When Alexander Zverev spoke exclusively to Tennis365 on the eve of Wimbledon, he made some candid comments about his fragile mentality in the months since his crushing Australian Open defeat against Jannik Sinner in January.
His slide in confidence after that three-set humbling at the hands of Sinner in Melbourne left a lasting impression and these comments prior to the tournament at the All England Club are now even more significant after his 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 3-6 7-6(5) 4-6 defeat against Arthur Rinderknech in the first round.
“I didn’t give myself, my body and my mind time to accept what happened. I just carried on playing and kind of had a little bit of a burnout in the middle of the season,” said Zverev, reflecting on that defeat against Sinner in an exclusive interview with Tennis365.
Now he has taken those comments to the next level after his defeat against Rinderknech, as he suggested the pressure of issues on and off the court may mean he needs to seek professional help from a therapist.
Zverev has been involved in some high-profile legal battles with ex-partners and the media in recent years, and when asked whether he may now seek professional help, he was honest in his answer.
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“Maybe for the first time in my life I’ll probably need it,” he said, as he responded to a question about his possible need for a therapist.
“I’ve been through a lot of difficulties. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in the media. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in life, generally.
“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.
“Even when I’m winning, even when I’m winning like in Stuttgart or Halle, it’s not necessarily, like, a feeling that I used to get where I was happy, over the moon, I felt motivated to keep going. It’s just not there right now for me, which, again, is the first time in my life which I’m feeling.
“I don’t know how to answer this, to be honest, because it’s a feeling that you’re going to bed and you’re just not really motivated for the next day, you don’t really feel like waking up and going to work. I think everybody had this feeling, it doesn’t matter what job you had.
“As an athlete, it kind of reflects on performance a lot. That’s more what I have right now.”
It’s not often an athlete is as open about his emotions as Zverev was in his Tennus365 interview last week and now he has expressed those feelings to the world after his Wimbledon exit.
He will now have a chance to take time away from the court, rediscover the mentality that is needed to compete for the biggest titles in tennis and come back with renewed focus and fire for the US hard court swing at the start of August.
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