Alexander Zverev has failed to build on his win at the Munich Open by making an early exit from the Madrid Open.
The German world number three was ousted by Francisco Cerundolo in the third round as Zverev failed to build on wins over Roberto Bautista Agut and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Zverev was brilliant earlier this month as he beat Ben Shelton in the final of the Munich Open to showcase some genuine form back out on the court once again.
Losing to Argentine star Cerundolo, however, offers him a strong dose of deja vu, and the player ranked at number 21 in the world currently has Zverev’s card marked.
Alexander Zverev explains why he lost to Francisco Cerundolo again
The 26-year-old has won three career titles, but they’ve all come in ATP 250 events, with the player still waiting for a breakthrough in a big tournament.
Likewise, his form in Grand Slam events hasn’t been spectacular either, with Cerundolo never reaching the quarter-final at one of the four tournaments.
One thing he does have, however, is the game to beat Zverev and the win over him at the Madrid Open is his third on the trot against the player.
Zverev is awaiting a first Grand Slam title and he doesn’t really know what is going wrong against the Argentine performer.
He said in his press conference: “I think it’s his game. To be honest, like today, I felt like I played okay. I didn’t think I played terribly. I was serving okay, I was hitting the forehand well and I was hitting the backhand well. But honestly, he played better than me.
“He played better than me today, he definitely played better than me last year when we played here. In Argentina, it was a bit of a funny match, but being honest, I didn’t play terribly, he just played better than me.”
How Zverev says he’s feeling after Madrid Open exit
Zverev is a two-time winner of this tournament and it does provide a case of one step forward and two steps back when it comes to his current form.
Earlier this month, he played superbly well to win the Munich Open and get back towards some sort of form but this was an all too familiar scenario for Zverev.
Ahead of the French Open, it’s now a case of back to the drawing board for the German and he expressed how he was feeling after defeat to Cerundolo.
He continued: “Of course, I’m disappointed. Especially here, I always feel I can play good tennis and win the tournament. It suits me. But at the end of the day, I don’t think I played terribly.
“The month before Munich, I was losing because of me. I was losing because I was playing badly and I was missing and not brave enough. I can’t really say that today. Maybe I played one bad game at 6-5 in the first set but this is one game of the match, this can happen.
“All in all, I feel like my game is improving and I feel like there is not too much wrong with my game, I just feel today my opponent was better than me. This can happen in sport.”
Zverev will now look forward to the next tournament in Rome ahead of the Roland Garros campaign, which gets underway at the end of May.
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