Tim Henman has sought to provide Alexander Zverev with some much-needed advice after his group-stage exit from the ATP Finals.
The German, who is a two-time winner at this event and entered this year as the number three seed, lost in a one-match shootout with Felix Auger-Aliassime for a spot in the semi-finals.
It marks a disappointing end to an underwhelming season, where he seems to have fallen further away from Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner rather than closer.
Tim Henman offers Alexander Zverev crucial advice
Speaking live on Sky Sports not long after he had been defeated by Felix Auger-Aliassime, Henman did not hold back in his assessment of Alexander Zverev, both on the night and over the past 11 months.
In fact, the pundit actually shocked himself whilst recalling how promisingly he started the 2025 season, and the subsequent regression that has occurred.
Henman admitted: “It amazes me to think of 12 months ago when I was watching Zverev. I was the one that sort of said, I think he can win a Grand Slam and then he got to the final of the Australian Open, 10 months ago, and I was sort of pretty chirpy about it.
“And now I see a performance like that, and I just feel he’s lost. I don’t feel like there’s a plan out there. His serving is phenomenal and it’s keeping him in these types of matches, but from the back of the court, you know, his forehand’s looking vulnerable, he’s very reactive, he’s not sort of stepping in, he retreats, and yeah, I mean, at times he’s missing some of these shots.”
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And whilst he will finish the year ranked third in the world, for someone who has made it clear that his ultimate goal is Grand Slam glory, this cannot be deemed good enough.
Henman continued, offering some crucial advice: “Don’t get me wrong, he is going to finish number three in the world. He’s the best of the rest.
“You’ve seen how much Alcaraz and Sinner have separated themselves. And this is, you know, someone who’s been in that part of the rankings for a long time, but I just look at this game and I’m surprised he played like that in a match of this nature because he has the experience.
“He’s been around for a long, long time, but to me, this is my opinion, he’s kind of got to go away and reinvent himself because when Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were the peak three, he was there knocking at the door, he beat them, he won Masters 1000s I think he was expecting to be the next guy and Sinner and Alcaraz have overtaken him.
“And, yeah, he’s got to really look at his game, break down his game and understand how he can use his weapons a lot more effectively because at the moment it’s a serve and his backhand’s very solid, but from where he hits it from, it’s too far back, it’s not having the penetration.”
How did Alexander Zverev perform at the Grand Slams in 2025?
As noted earlier, a Grand Slam title is pretty much all Zverev is striving for at the moment.
After all, Zverev is widely regarded as the best player to have never won a major, and current trends show no signs of that changing either.
One of his three losses in a Grand Slam final came earlier this year, when he was crushed by Sinner in Melbourne.
He followed that up with a disappointing loss to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros, before exiting in the very first round at Wimbledon.
His Grand Slam campaign concluded with a run to the third round of the US Open, where he was defeated by his most recent conqueror, Auger-Aliassime.
Despite his desperation for this ultimate goal, Zverev actually seems to be slipping further away from contention.
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