Alexander Zverev’s underwhelming ATP Finals campaign has drawn to a close, and with it, his season is nearly done.
With just the Davis Cup Finals left, the 28-year-old will surely be ready for a welcome break from tennis after an arduous year laden with disappointment.
Having seemingly been ranked third in the world for most of the year, there was hope and expectation that he would be the one to spearhead the charge to unsettle Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s duopoly over men’s tennis.
Instead, he has once again failed to usurp their dominance, arguably regressing back as part of the wider chasing pack.
Speaking after last night’s defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime, he spoke about his final event of the year, before sharing an outstanding issue he suffered with at this year’s ATP Finals.
Alexander Zverev explains why his volleys suffered at the ATP Finals
Sitting at his press conference, the initial question from the reporter sought to explain why his volleying had been so poor during his loss.
However, before that, Alexander Zverev once again reiterated his opinion on the Davis Cup and its lack of home-and-away ties.
He said: “The true Davis Cup is the home-and-away ties. For me, if you’re in the final of Davis Cup, I’m more than happy to play one more week after the World Tour Finals. But to play quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals, I’m not too happy about because it can be a waste of time. If you lose in the semi-finals, if you lose in quarter-finals, for me it’s a waste of time.
“In a way, yeah, the real Davis Cup is the atmosphere. To play against Italy in Italy, it would be a completely different atmosphere than playing Italy in Spain. I played against Nadal in a bullfighting arena. That’s for me the real Davis Cup.
“I always keep my opinion. I always said my opinion over the last couple years. I don’t think this Davis Cup is the real Davis Cup. It’s an exhibition tournament in a way that is called Davis Cup.
“I’ll play it now because my teammates and my German colleagues really asked me to play because they feel like everybody’s getting older. Struffy doesn’t have many opportunities anymore. The doubles guys don’t have many opportunities anymore. I’m playing it just because of that reason. For me, this has nothing to do with Davis Cup.”
Should Alexander Zverev get a new coach?
Zverev finished by offering his crucial complaint that he felt affected his play, noting: “The volley, it’s very tough to serve and volley because the lights are coming from above. Every time the ball is going up, I had problems.”
Alexander Zverev was so passive vs Felix Auger-Aliassime
Heading into last night’s crunch match, it was all to play for.
Despite it being the final group stage clash, it was effectively a knockout encounter, with the winner securing their spot in the semi-finals of this event.
However, with the way Zverev played, one would never have known.
He was painfully passive once again in the big moments, and by the end, his forehand had completely deserted him.
Zverev often struck the ball on that side with shocking disinterest, casually stroking balls back into play with a lackadaisical open stance. It’s no surprise that Auger-Aliassime came out the victor, as at least he sought to take the opportunity even if he didn’t play his best match.
The passive nature of the German has become sadly common in his biggest matches, and it’s worth wondering whether he will ever solve this glaring issue. It is preventing him from achieving the goals he wants in this sport, and whilst he’s identified it in the past, there seems to be no conscious effort being made to alter it.
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