Zverev Explains How He Went From 'Thinking How To Win Matches' To ATP Finals
ATP
Being one of the eight players in Turin is a huge achievement for Alexander Zverev, who was unsure how to win matches at the start of the year.
Zverev missed half of last year because of an ankle injury suffered at Roland Garros, and his return only came earlier this year. It was a struggle to start, which wasn't a huge surprise as he missed months of tennis. Slowly but surely, Zverev played himself into shape and started to win matches.
He won more and more and eventually won enough to find himself among the Top 8 players at the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin. In a talk with the ATP ahead of the 2023 ATP Finals, Zverev revealed how surprising that result for him was. He genuinely thought he had no chance to find himself in Turin.
It was difficult in the beginning. I was nowhere near even thinking about Turin. I was thinking about how to win matches. I was barely winning matches. I was barely making points as well. It kind of turned around in the summer for me. I made the semi-finals of Roland Garros. I think that was a big turning point for me. From then onwards, it was fun to be on the tennis court again.
Zverev also talked about the injury, which he feels robbed him of a chance to become world number one. He was playing amazing tennis at Roland Garros that year, and who knows what might have happened if he kept playing at such a high level in the second part of the year.
That you don’t get what you want straight away. You have to be patient at times. You have to be working for the things you really want to achieve. Before the injury I was so close to being World No.1 and that was kind of taken away from me. All of a sudden after the injury, I was 27 in the world. So being back in the top eight and being back at this tournament is very special.
