The curious case of Alexander Zverev in modern Men's Tennis
The journey of Alexander Zverev so far in the tennis circuit has been promising, but at the same time, quite frustrating if you seem to observe his game closely. Analyzing his career path in great detail, one comes across him as a curious case of a person who promised to achieve a lot, but delivered far too less than what was expected of him.
His name grabbed the headlines for the first time ever on the senior tour when he toppled the then world No.3, great Swiss Roger Federer in the semi-finals of Stuttgart Open of 2016 at Halle, Germany. He followed up his path-breaking victory over the Swiss maestro with a win in St. Petersburg in September 2016 to register his first ever ATP title, and en-route to the title, defeated the other well established players like Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka.
Just a teenager back then, the young German was slowly but surely learning his lessons, finding his feet among the senior pros. If 2016 was the year of arrival for ‘Sascha’, as he is often referred to by his peers and commentators, 2017 certainly was the breakthrough year, establishing himself firmly as the most eligible NextGen star to look forward to.
At the Australian Open 2017, Zverev lost to Rafael Nadal in his Round of 32 match, but he won many hearts with his performance against the Spaniard, as he pushed Nadal all the way, with the match concluding in five gruelling sets. Even though he won both the ATP 250 events at Montpellier and Munich, the brightest moment of Alexander Zverev’s short career so far arrived at Rome, when he conquered a thumping victory over Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final to register his first ATP Masers 1000 title.
He followed his victory in Rome with yet another spectacular performance in the finals of ATP Masters 1000 Canada at Montreal to upset Roger Federer in straight sets to win his second Masters 1000 title.
His win at Washington alongside his title in Canada meant Zverev won 5 ATP titles in 2017. However, in spite of his glamorous performances in the ATP events, Zverev failed to make his mark at the Grand Slam events throughout the year. Be his first round exit at Rolland Garros, or second round exit at the US Open, the German young sensation appeared lacklustre at the Majors.
If we were still in 2017, Zverev’s poor show at the Grand Slam tournaments won’t bother you that much as this was his first full year on the ATP tour. In fact, 2017 saw a tremendous rise of Alexander Zverev, not only in stature but also in his performances throughout the year, shaping up as an engaging eexperience for 2018 and many more years to come.
And here exactly lies the problem with the young German. While one expected Zverev to rise up the ladder and also the rankings with numerous wins and stellar performances in 2018 on the back of successful 2017, Zverev's career went a little downhill, coming across discouraging and unexpected losses throughout the year.
His struggles throughout the French Open were evident as he was taken deep into the fifth set even by the lesser known and lower ranked players like Karen Khachanov, Dusan Lajovic and Damir Dzumhur before finally succumbing to Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals. His performances at the other slams were not inspiring either as he failed to reach the semi-finals even once.
His losses against the likes of Hyeon Chung, Ernest Gulbis and Phillip Kohlschreiber at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open respectively didn’t boast off well for the youngster. No disrespect towards these opponents, but Zverev cannot afford to lose against these crop of players if he indeed wishes to be one of the World’s best.
At the age of 21-22, where potentially he should be approaching his career peak and defeating the players of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer’s stature, he seems to be lost and struggling to find his feet even against the lesser known players. There is no doubt that he has immense potential and a game to beat the best in the world, but we all know, it is one thing to have potential, and completely another to translate that potential into winning ways, into something that is spectacular.
2018, a year that we expected Alexander Zverev to carve out magic, convert his starts into winning Championships, a probable coming of age was not exactly to be as he failed to live up to his immense promise. However, in spite of his disappointments throughout the year, the young German ended the year with a sweet note as he won the Nitto ATP finals toppling world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the finals.
And this pattern of hapless performances and early, discouraging losses has also transcended into 2019 which is indeed a worrying sign if you are an Alexander Zverev fan.
To conclude, in spite of having tremendous potential and a well-balanced game, what’s stopping Zverev from reaching the heights that his predecessors attained when they were of his age? I guess it boils down to anger management and mental strength more than anything else in crunch situations. We have come across Zverev destroying rackets on the court, expressing his frustrations in the most brutal ways, which definitely makes him look weak in the eyes of public and his opponent.
Just analyzing his innumerable racketa breaking incidents at crucial junctures of the match, it can be interrelated to him not being mentally strong enough to conquer the stress of the moment. May be if he can manage his anger better in a much controlled way, he can turn out to be an all-together different player, bringing justice to his unique potential. It’s just a thought, but surely can go a long way in turning Alexander Zverev from being just a talented player into a successful player tennis world can be proud of.
