A Twitter user’s stats highlight why Alexander Zverev runs out of gas when it matters most

Shahida Jacobs
Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals
Alexander Zverev leaves the court

Alexander Zverev has for the third consecutive year topped the list of players with the most hours on court and it could be one of the key reasons why he often struggles to go all the way at the business end of major tournaments.

The top players often breeze through their opening few matches at events as that allows them to conserve some energy for when they face seeded players in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.

But Zverev has a history of spending a lot of time on court and then coming up short during the latter stages of events as he runs out of gas, and that statistic was once again highlighted during the 2025 season.

The German reached four finals – including the showpiece match at the Australian Open where he finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner – but won only one title and that was the ATP 500 Bavarian Championships in April.

The world No 3 also reached the semi-finals of three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and the quarter-final of the French Open.

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In total, he played 82 matches with a 57–25 win-loss record, but spent an incredible 164 hours on court, edging world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz (159), Felix Auger-Aliassime (158), Alex de Minaur (154) and Taylor Fritz (149).

Alcaraz, by contrast, finished with a 71–9 win-loss record, but the Spaniard played in 11 finals and won eight titles.

Stats compiled by Twitter user @PhilBlack09 found that Zverev has spent an incredible 535 hours on court in 254 singles the past three years, putting him well clear of his closest challengers.

Alcaraz was second on the list with 454 hours in 226 matches, Jannik Sinner third on 449 hours from 222 matches with Fritz (438 hours in 229 matches) and Daniil Medvedev (423 hours in 215 matches) completing the top five.

Meanwhile, tennis great Novak Djokovic has spent only 360 hours on court from 159 matches the past three years as he reduced his schedule significantly with 109 coming during the 2025 season.

Another damning statistic for Zverev is the fact that he had a 50-50 record when matches go to a deciding set as he was 11-11 in 2025, compare that to Alcaraz who was 16-4 and Auger-Aliassime (20-7).

Zverev’s struggles was highlighted by former world No 9 Andre Petkovic as she stated on the Becker Petkovic podcast: “For me, this mental hole is also due to fatigue. I think he plays a lot and has played a lot this season, and often the first thing to go when you’re overtired is your mental strength.

“I know I’m repeating myself, but I think he’s just played a lot and needs to recover.”

Perhaps one only has to look at Zverev’s two other Grand Slam final appearances as in 2024 he finished runner-up to Alcaraz as he lost a five-setter, having also played two five-setters earlier in the tournament.

The German also lost the 2020 US Open final in five sets against Dominic Thiem after coming through a five-setter against Pablo Carreño Busta in the semi-final.

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