Downbeat Alexander Zverev Makes Brutal Admission After Australian Open Final Loss
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Alexander Zverev was devastated after losing to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final, and he did not sound hopeful about his future chances against the Italian.
Zverev entered the final in excellent form. He only dropped two sets in his previous six matches to reach that stage. That included Novak Djokovic retiring after the first set of the semifinal, but Zverev had still won an intense 82-minute battle before the Serbian made that decision.
Defending champion Sinner was the favorite to win, but Zverev believed he could cause the world No. 1 problems and challenge for victory. Unfortunately for him, that was not how things transpired.
Sinner was the better player throughout the final and secured the title with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 triumph. The ominous reality for the 23-year-old's rivals is that Zverev did not even play badly. Some of his best tennis was not good enough to seriously challenge Sinner.
That grim reality seemed to hit Zverev after the final. In his post-match press conference, last year's Paris Masters champion admitted Sinner is better in every department except the serve.
"He completely outplayed me. From the back of the court, completely outplayed me. I’m serving better than him, but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me. He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me."
"At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots, like massive factors, and he does four or five of them better than me. That’s the reason why he won. He deserved to win today."
What makes losing to Sinner so comprehensively and realizing his superiority in most parts of the game even tougher is how hard Zverev works off the court. The German is desperate not to end his career as the best player never to win a Grand Slam.
"I’m doing everything I can, I’m working as hard as I ever did, I think I’m doing all the right things off-court. I think I’m practising the right things, but I lost in straight sets today. I mean, those are facts. That is a fact. I lost to Jannik in straight sets today."
"I mean, I don’t want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that’s for sure. I’ll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies."
A good argument can be made that Zverev would be the best player never to win a Grand Slam if he retired tomorrow. The 27-year-old has achieved significant success at every level outside the four majors.
Zverev's achievements include winning an Olympic gold medal, triumphing twice at the ATP Finals, and securing seven Masters 1000 titles. Several former Grand Slam winners have not enjoyed that much success at other levels.
However, there is still much time for Zverev to avoid being the best never to secure a major. If he is not unlucky with injuries, the world No. 2 should have many years ahead of playing at a high level that might be good enough to win a Grand Slam.
