Alexander Zverev has had several excellent results throughout 2024. However, the German's schedule will differ next year after he confirmed his participation in two South American tournaments in 2025.
This year's French Open runner-up is currently focused on the North American hard-court swing after returning from playing at the Olympics, where he lost in the men's singles quarterfinal to Lorenzo Musetti.
Zverev may have been relieved to return from the games. He spoke about the difficult conditions for those staying at the Olympic Village. That may have affected his performances at Roland-Garros.
The 27-year-old played his first tournament of the North American hard court swing at the National Bank Open in Montreal. After an excellent performance, Zverev defeated Holger Rune in the round of 16 in Canada.
Unfortunately for Zverev, he could not build on that success in the following round. He was knocked out in the quarterfinal by the recent Citi Open champion Sebastian Korda in three sets 6-7, 6-1, 4-6.
Zverev has time to recover mentally and physically from that setback for the Cincinnati Open. The gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is the No. 3 seed at the event in Ohio, meaning he receives a bye in the opening round.
The tennis calendar can be brutal for players, though. For players who qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals, the season runs from January until the middle of November. Therefore, players have to manage their schedules carefully.
That means any changes players make to their calendars are not made lightly. However, Zverev has decided to try something different by playing in South America next year in the period after the Australian Open.
Zverev will compete at two tournaments in February of next year. The Argentina Open, an ATP-250 tournament held from 8 to 16 February, announced the German's participation and said ticket sales had also begun.
The two-time Grand Slam runner-up is also set to compete at the ATP-500 event in Rio. The tournament announced this on social media platform X, acknowledging that Zverev's commitment to play in Brazil was new.
"You know we only work with new things around here, right? And for the 11th edition it couldn't be any different: Alexander Zverev is confirmed to debut on our courts next year! See you soon, @AlexZverev"
Carlos Alcaraz has played at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires and the Rio Open during the last few iterations of the tournaments, drawing large crowds due to his position as one of the sport's most popular players.
However, the four-time Grand Slam champion is expected to play at the indoor hard-court tournament in Rotterdam in 2025 instead of in South America. That is a massive blow for both events.
Zverev's presence in Argentina and Brazil will help lessen the impact of that loss. Many top players do not play the Golden Swing because the events are held on clay before the March tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.
South American fans are known for creating unique and vocal atmospheres. They deserve to have strong fields at their tournaments, and Zverev will help make that a reality.