Alexander Zverev faces unusual criticism after his defeat to Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells

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Alexander Zverev continued his poor head-to-head against Jannik Sinner in the Indian Wells semifinals.

Zverev was beaten by Sinner, who was hampered by a back issue, in straight sets to mark his sixth successive defeat to the Italian.

In the analysis after the match, Martina Navratilova told Zverev why he kept losing to Sinner.

However, former Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey has given a different take to Navratilova in his assessment of Zverev’s semifinal defeat to eventual Indian Wells champion Sinner.

Sam Querrey claims Alexander Zverev was ‘too aggressive’ against Jannik Sinner

After struggling against Sinner in particular last year, Zverev has been trying to play a more aggressive game style.

This is something that Zverev has been called to do for some while, as he has previously been criticised for being too passive.

However, Querrey believes that Zverev was actually ‘too aggressive’ against Sinner in the hot conditions in Indian Wells.

“I was actually a little surprised on this one,” Querrey said in the Nothing Major Podcast. “I was court side for it. Sascha [Zverev] I thought had been playing unbelievable and I thought he was too aggressive. The weather was hot and we know Jannik can have issues in the weather.

“I thought Zverev was going to retreat behind the baseline and just stay back there and make 15 balls over and over. I thought he was a little too aggressive. Sinner broke him early and just kind of steamrolled from there.”

Former top 30 player Steve Johnson responded, “Ultimately I am not going to get mad or second guess Sascha’s ability to be more aggressive because that’s what we’ve been asking him to do in those situations.

“Yes, he could maybe out rally and out grind Sinner on a very hot day but we have wanted him to be more aggressive in these matches and I think it’s important to give him kudos because he did it against Sinner in the semis.

“We want him to do this, because that’s how I feel he needs to beat those guys at a slam, because you can’t just out rally Sinner or Carlos [Alcaraz]. You have got to find a way to be aggressive.

“We know Sascha can grind it out against just about anybody in the world but I think against those guys he has to do something against the grain.

“He tried it and maybe he liked the tactics but the execution wasn’t there. Getting broken early doesn’t help. Maybe he goes back the other way and tries to make it a war of attrition, but I like the fact he was trying to be more aggressive.”

When could Alexander Zverev play Jannik Sinner at the Miami Open?

Zverev will look to continue his more aggressive game style at the Miami Open, which is likely to reward this more than Indian Wells as the courts tend to be quicker.

The German is a former finalist at the Miami Open, with Zverev achieving his best result at the tournament in 2018.

Zverev will likely have to overcome his poor head-to-head against Sinner if he is to return to the final in Miami, as the world number two is his potential semifinal opponent.

Before he can even think about playing Sinner, Zverev will await the winner of the match between Jacob Fearnley and Martin Damm for his opening match in Miami.

Some of the other potential obstacles for Zverev ahead of that match with Sinner include Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev and Learner Tien.