Alexander Zverev told to ‘take time off’ in stinging Tim Henman criticism
Alexander Zverev has been advised he should “take some time off” by Tim Henman after an underwhelming 2025 season.
Even if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are dominating the men’s side of the sport, a solitary title will come as disappointment from the No.3 player in the world whose season ended with a group stage exit at the ATP Finals.
After the exit, Zverev came in for some sharp criticism from Henman who said it looked like the German was going on the court with no plan.
“Right now, I don’t see him having any plan when he steps onto the court,” Henman said.
“His serve is phenomenal, we already know that, and in some matches he manages to keep it safe. The problem comes later, from the back of the court, when his forehand becomes very vulnerable, reacting almost always too late, without the ability to withstand many rallies.”
The British former player went on to suggest Zverev should take some time off and “reinvent” himself for the 2026 season.
“Right now, I feel that what he should do is take some time off from competition and reinvent himself.”
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The criticism would not have been lost on Zverev who himself admitted it was an “incredibly unsatisfying season.”
“For me, an incredibly unsatisfying season,” he admitted. “The tennis season is long, you have a lot of ups and downs.
“For me, there were not many ups. I think, for me; the Australian Open final, Munich. Everything else, I’m very unsatisfied. Yeah, that’s it.”
Henman is not the only former pro to be critical of Zverev and after some tough words from Boris Becker, the player accused his compatriot of using his name for attention.
“I think he’s looking for a bit of attention, and he gets it through me,” Zverev said. “Unfortunately, that’s the case. But I don’t care anymore.”
Becker had suggested Zverev’s issues went beyond the tennis court.
“We text each other every now and then,” Becker said on Sky Deutschland. “Things are a bit cooler in the relationship at the moment, but that’s okay, he should concentrate on his matches.”
“I’m not a psychologist, I can’t see what’s going on inside him. But it had less to do with tennis.”
