Alexander Zverev reveals ‘very bitter’ moment as he reflects on 2024 campaign
Alexander Zverev has admitted the manner of his Wimbledon exit in 2024 was “very, very bitter” after initially playing what he believed to be the best grass tennis of his career.
World No 2 Zverev has never made the last eight of the men’s singles event at the All England Club, falling in the fourth round in 2017, 2021, and 2024.
This year’s Championships saw the German, seeded fourth, reach the second week of the tournament without dropping a set.
Zverev defeated Roberto Carballes Baena, Marcos Giron, and Cameron Norrie to make the fourth round, where he lost to 13th seed Taylor Fritz despite leading by two sets to love.
The 27-year-old later opened up about the difficulties he faced after sustaining a knee injury early into his match with Norrie, which ultimately played a factor in terms of physical struggles against Fritz.
Speaking to Tennis Magazin in Germany, Zverev claimed to have played his “best tennis” of the year at Wimbledon and admitted frustration that his injury came while finding confidence on grass.
He said: “I had a very stable season, except for the few tournaments where I had real physical problems.
“I was one set away from winning Roland Garros. I still think and I stand by it that I played my best tennis at Wimbledon this year, for the first time in my career.
“I have never played as well on grass as I did before my injury. That was very, very bitter for me because I really saw the opportunities for the first time in my life on grass.
“I won two Masters titles, I played big finals, but at the end of the day I want to go one step further.”
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Zverev was the champion in Rome and Bercy this year, alongside achieving further runner-up finishes at the Hamburg Open and the French Open.
He will start 2025 as the world No 2 and will be the second seed at the Australian Open, with only Jannik Sinner ranked ahead of him.
The German is considered by some to be the greatest ATP player to never lift a Grand Slam singles title and he will look to finally break his major duck in 2025.
Zverev was two sets to one up over Carlos Alcaraz in this year’s French Open final, and was two sets up in the 2020 US Open final, serving for the match before falling to close friend Dominic Thiem.
2024 proved to be a year of missed chances for the world No 2 who, outside of his loss to Fritz at SW19, also lost from two sets up in the Australian Open semi-final to Daniil Medvedev.
However, having won the Paris Masters and reaching the semi-finals of the ATP Finals in the closing weeks of this season, he approaches the new season – and Australian Open – with confidence.
Zverev’s season begins at the United Cup, where he will look to anchor Germany to a second straight title in the combined team competition.
