29-year-old Alexander Zverev has often been dubbed the ‘nearly man’, but might the stars finally be aligning at this year’s French Open?
The German giant has reached three Grand Slam finals in his career so far, and was as close as one hold of serve away from winning one of them, before he let slip a two sets to love lead against Dominic Thiem in the 2020 US Open final.
It is not for a lack of talent that Zverev is yet to break the duck, but more a question of his mentality. At crucial moments in matches, he has been criticised for not being brave enough. This year’s Australian Open semi-final showed almost exactly that.
Zverev was 5-3 up in the deciding set against then-world #1 Carlos Alcaraz, before losing four consecutive games against a seemingly injured Alcaraz to confirm yet another devastating defeat. But, with the Spaniard out injured for this year’s French Open, Novak Djokovic seemingly struggling with both injury and age, might it be make-or-break time for Zverev?
Is this the year for Alexander Zverev?
Seizing Opportunity
If not for a certain Jannik Sinner, the draw might’ve been as wide open as ever. The Italian has won an incredible six Masters 1000 titles in a row and is by far and away the favourite to take the title; he’s arguably a bigger favourite to win Roland Garros than Rafael Nadal ever was.
But, aside from the overwhelming favourite, the next likely winner is anybody’s guess. While of course you can never count out 24 time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, he is certainly not getting any younger, and clay is his least favourite and historically least successful surface. Combine that with the fact that the French clay is rather harsh on the body, Zverev should fancy his chances should he face the Serb.
Zverev can only face Sinner in the final, and he is probably one of only two players in the draw that is realistically capable of beating Sinner over five sets, so if he can deal with the rest of the draw as he will be expected to, you never know what might happen in a Major final.
Now Or Never
Alcaraz’s absence at this tournament should no doubt inject a boost of confidence to Zverev’s chances of triumph, as it is rare that such an elite player misses out on a Major tournament. It might serve particularly important for Zverev’s mentality going into the tournament, an area that has often been criticised, knowing that ranking-wise there is only one player better than him.
Having to go through both Alcaraz and Sinner, consecutively, is a task that is seemingly close to impossible, as proved by Djokovic’s heroic yet unsuccessful effort at the Australian Open earlier this year. However, eliminating Alcaraz means that all it takes is one off day from Sinner for the draw to be completely wide open.
In an ideal world for Zverev, somebody somehow eliminates Sinner before Zverev has the chance to do so himself, probably making the German the favourite for the title. But, that may not work in Zverev’s favour; if his past is anything to go by, the pressure of being the overwhelming favourite may prove to be too much to handle.
At 29, Zverev isn’t getting any younger. Sinner is showing no signs of slowing down and Alcaraz will undoubtably be back, so time is running out for the German. Will he ever get over the line, or will he go down as one of the best players to never win a Major title?
Main phoro credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
