{"id":14179,"date":"2019-05-14T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T10:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=14179"},"modified":"2019-05-14T12:27:17","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T16:27:17","slug":"stefanos-tsitsipas-surpassed-alexander-zverev-best-nextgen-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2019\/05\/14\/stefanos-tsitsipas-surpassed-alexander-zverev-best-nextgen-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Has Stefanos Tsitsipas Surpassed Alexander Zverev for Best NextGen Player?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was truly an incredible moment for 20 year-old<\/a> Stefanos Tsitsipas. It had gone into the net. The ball had actually gone into the net. The result? Tsitsipas had beaten Rafael Nadal<\/a>. On clay. In Spain.<\/p>\n

Now, huge wins over Big Three players are not totally foreign to the young Greek star. He had beaten Novak Djokovic<\/a> in Toronto last year<\/a>, and Roger Federer<\/a> at the Australian Open<\/a> this year<\/a>. However, beating Nadal on clay is a different animal–a test of a player\u2019s mental willpower and desire to compete. A total examination of a player\u2019s game, because if there is ever a time when a weakness will be exposed, it\u2019s against Nadal on clay.<\/p>\n

And while Tsitsipas lost to Novak Djokovic in the final, 6-3 6-4, it was apparent that the Greek would be a force for the years to come.<\/p>\n

Alexander Zverev<\/h3>\n

But, from the perspective of the future of tennis, it is important to look back to the quarterfinal stage. Tsitsipas took on 22-year-old Alexander Zverev, a player who has been widely hailed as the future of tennis. While Zverev had won the first meeting in Washington last year, Tsitsipas got his revenge when he beat Zverev in a tight three-setter at the Canadian Masters 1000 event shortly thereafter. Zverev made headlines after that match, saying<\/a>, \u201cToday was an absolutely pathetic match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zverev continued by saying, in a completely deadpan tone, \u201c\u2026I don\u2019t think even think he played well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tsitsipas in response to Zverev\u2019s remarks, said, \u201cI would say I played more clever this time,\u201d and later said regarding his relationship with Zverev, \u201cThe relationship is ok.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, there was clearly a lot at stake when these two players met in Madrid last week. They obviously weren\u2019t friends. Zverev visibly was frustrated with how he had played against Tsitsipas in their last meeting, and with Tsitsipas shooting up the rankings, it was time for Zverev to defend his turf at the top.<\/p>\n

But things didn\u2019t work out that way for Zverev. Despite a spirited comeback in the second set from the young German, Tsitsipas won the match 7-5 3-6 6-2. Tsitsipas was the more solid player. He served well, had a good balance between margin and power on his groundstrokes, and was very good when moving forward to the net.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>