Alexander Zverev has reason to feel pleased over what’s happened since the Australian Open finished

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Alexander Zverev has been one of the biggest beneficiaries since Carlos Alcaraz won the Australian Open, despite being completely absent from the ATP Tour.

Zverev hasn’t played a match since the Australian Open, although he is now finally making his return in Acapulco, where he is making up for lost time by playing both singles and doubles.

The ATP number four enjoyed a lengthy stay at the opening Grand Slam of the season, making it all the way to the semifinals in Melbourne.

But Zverev lost to Alcaraz, once again falling short of a maiden major title before his opponent went on to complete the career Grand Slam.

Since then, Alcaraz has won the Qatar Open as well, but the current overall ATP situation should leave Zverev feeling pleased.

Has Alexander Zverev just blown his last chance to win a Grand Slam?

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Alexander Zverev should be pleased with the current state of the ATP Tour

Alcaraz’s dominance is worrying for men’s tennis, but importantly Zverev remains the player to have troubled him the most in 2026, and by a considerable distance.

The pair battled it out for five hours and 27 minutes in Melbourne, playing the longest-ever Australian Open semifinal.

Alcaraz came through in the end, with the victory representing one of his 12 wins in the 2026 season, in which he has yet to lose.

Despite the defeat, it was an important performance from the German, who needed a strong start to the year after a difficult 2025 season.

But almost equal to his troubling of Alcaraz in terms of positivity for Zverev is the current struggles of Jannik Sinner.

Sinner suffered a shock defeat to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, before suffering an even bigger shock against Jakub Mensik in the Qatar Open quarterfinals.

The usually reliable and formidable Italian has recently been showing signs of vulnerability, which is a situation that Zverev should be doing his utmost to take advantage of.

The German has definitely done enough to prove he still belongs at the top of men’s tennis, even with Djokovic currently ahead of him in the ATP rankings.

That remarkable situation should be viewed as a win for Djokovic as opposed to a loss for Zverev, although it should motivate him to return to being the closest rival to Alcaraz and Sinner solely in terms of the rankings.

How do you feel about Carlos Alcaraz’s dominance of men’s tennis right now?

Is it at risk of making the men's game boring?

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Alexander Zverev may be confident of winning Acapulco

Zverev has a tough Acapulco draw, but he will at least not meet fellow star Alex de Minaur until the final should both make it that far.

De Minaur has a great chance of Acapulco success, but the same can definitely be said of top seed Zverev.

Unlike De Minaur, Zverev skipped Rotterdam, so he should be very well rested and recovered from the Australian Open.

Meanwhile, following the initial heartbreak, his near miss against Alcaraz will have been a real confidence booster.

Moreover, the experienced German lifted the Acapulco trophy in 2021, representing one of his 24 career titles.

There are even positives to take from his upcoming doubles exploits, with his partner Marcelo Melo having only just won the Rio Open title with Joao Fonseca.

The pair start out against Santiago Gonzalez and David Pel in Mexico, while Zverev takes on Corentin Moutet in his singles opener.