"I don't think it's my last chance, I believe I will be a Slam champion"- When Alexander Zverev lost his maiden Slam final in heartbreaking fashion
Alexander Zverev remained hopeful and confident that he would win a Grand Slam one day, even after losing in his first Major final. The incident took place during the 2020 US Open.
Zverev had an impressive run in New York, defeating players such as Kevin Anderson, wildcard Brandon Nakashima, Adrian Mannarino, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Borna Coric, and Pablo Carreno Busta to become the youngest male finalist at a Major since Novak Djokovic in 2010.
However, the German lost 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) to Dominic Thiem in the championship match despite giving his all and fighting for every point, Thiem became the first Austrian to win a singles Major since Thomas Muster at the 1995 French Open.
After his heartbreaking loss, Zverev attended a press conference and expressed regret about not becoming a Major champion despite being so close. However, the then 23-year-old remained hopeful that his time would come again.
"I was super close to being a Grand Slam champion," Zverev said. "I was a few games away, maybe a few points away. For me what upset me the most is not the third set or something like that, it's the fifth set. I had a lot of chances in the fifth set and didn't use them."
"I mean, I'm 23 years old. I don't think it's my last chance. I do believe that I will be a Grand Slam champion at some point," he added.
Alexander Zverev: "Dominic Thiem started playing much better and I started playing much worse"
During the same press conference, Alexander Zverev elaborated on his loss to Dominic Thiem in the final of the 2020 US Open. He discussed what he felt went wrong, admitting that he played poorly when it mattered most, while his opponent performed exceptionally well.
"Yeah, I mean, obviously being two sets to love and a break up in a Grand Slam final then losing is not easy. Yeah, I mean, the match turned when he broke me I think for the first time in the third set," Zverev said.
I think he started playing much better and I started playing much worse. That's when the match turned. But I still had plenty of chances after that," he added.
When asked about any positive takeaways from the match, the World No. 4 expressed that it was too soon to make any assessments:
"That question is probably two, three days too early to ask right now."