Germany’s eternal alternative to the ‘Big Three’ has lately been wandering between occasional successes and scandals
Alexander Zverev is one of the most fit players of his generation. Tall, strong and with a wonderful backhand, at 25 he has not yet shown that he has enough material to become the champion everyone expected when he stormed onto the track beating Roger Federer in 2016 at Halle 2016 , a tournament that the Swiss has won ten times.
His Grand Slam record is extremely bad for the expectations he aroused in 2017, the year of his first major wounds, the 1,000 Masters in Rome and Canada. Two titles that showed his adaptability to both cement and clay. However, his progression in the minor tournaments was not followed in the same way at the Grand Slams.
His first round of 16 was at Wimbledon 2017, his first quarters at Roland Garros 2018 and only reached the semi-finals in January 2020. Along the way, another Masters 1,000 (Madrid 2018) and a Masters Cup (London 2019) fell, but Zverev didn’t take the final step as the ‘Big Three’ experienced a second golden age. He also took the gold medal in Tokyo, ending Djokovic’s Golden Slam, but without an answer in the Majors.
His problems with the right side, light years away from the backhand, and a continuous double-fault cyst more mentally than anything else weighed heavily on him when it came to competing with the best. Added to this were his problems off the track, numerous for a professional athlete. First, the allegations of assault by his ex-girlfriend, Olga Sharypova, a case still in the hands of the ATP, which has been investigating it for several months.
Then his unconsciousness from skipping the covid protocols in the midst of the pandemic, publishing party photos and finally the altercation in Acapulco a few months ago. The one from Hamburg, in a fit of rage in a doubles match, repeatedly hit the judge’s seat, leading to a fine of 23,000 euros, exclusion from the tournament, loss of earned points and an eight-week suspension without play, which would lead to not being applied in case of non-recidivism.
Despite his scandals, however, this 2022 is fruitful for Rafa Nadal’s rival next Friday. He has reached the semi-finals in Monte Carlo and Rome and lost the final in Madrid, visibly tired from a semi-final played into the early hours the day before. His momentum this season has seen him establish himself in the top three of the league table and have the chance to become number one for the first time in his career.
If he wins in Paris, Zverev will replace Novak Djokovic at the top of the ATP. If he loses in the semi-final or the final, Daniil Medvedev is number one. Zverev could become the first German to become number one since Boris Becker did in September 1991. And all with a Spaniard on the bench. Sergi Bruguera is Zverev’s coach, who has also criticized him for combining this job with the Spanish Davis Cup coach.
This Friday, in the Philippe Chatrier, Zverev will have the challenge of giving continuity to the end of his curse. Until the quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz, he had suffered 11 defeats in 11 games against the ‘top ten’ in Grand Slam, the big black point of his career. Djokovic, three times Dominic Thiem (3), Stefanos Tsitsipas (1), Tomas Berdych (1), Milos Raonic (1), Andy Murray (1) and Nadal (1) stopped the German in the Majors.
He could be rid of a Nadal this Friday who has won six games against him and four of them on clay. The lone in a Grand Slam was also retained by the Spaniards, in the third round of the 2017 Australian Open.
Source: La Verdad
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