John McEnroe tells Alexander Zverev what he must do to win Slams

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Alexander Zverev dejected

John McEnroe has told Alexander Zverev he won’t win a Grand Slam until he becomes more ruthless.

The German has been tipped to shine on the ATP Tour as the best of the ‘NextGen’ telents, but he has had a wretched time at Grand Slams.

This season’s French Open performance was his best to date, when he reached the quarter-finals before suffering an injury-hampered defeat to eventual finalist Dominic Thiem.

German tennis is in a good place at the moment, with Angelique Kerber winning Wimbledon and Michael Stich’s inductment into the Hall of Fame.

However, American legend McEnroe believes Zverev will never fulfil his potential until he stops expending his energy in the early rounds of Grand Slams.

“[Zverev] has the chance to win a Grand Slam title,” said McEnroe, who was speaking at the Hamburg Open. “But I can’t say when it will be.

“He needs to learn to beat his opponents more quickly, otherwise, he is in trouble.

“He doesn’t have to waste all his energy in the first rounds, you should beat those people in three sets.

“I expect it to happen one day, but I don’t know when, maybe at the US Open.”

Alexander Zverev

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