“I was very frustrated after the US Open” – end-of-season reset rejuvenates Zverev for 2025
The German reached his third Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, and is hoping to end his search for a maiden title in the showpiece on Sunday
Alexander Zverev, Australian Open, 2025
In the aftermath of a brutal five-set defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of Roland-Garros last June, a dejected Alexander Zverev spoke candidly about his need to improve if he was to close the gap between himself and the sport’s leading young players.
A season that had started so promisingly for the German – producing an Australian Open semi-final, an Italian Open title and a second Grand Slam final in Paris – suffered a second-half dip as Zverev, by his own admissions, underperformed at the year’s final two majors.
“I was disappointed after the French Open how my year was going. I was not winning tournaments anymore,” Zverev told his post-match press conference after reaching the Australian Open final.
The world No 2 earned safe passage into his maiden final in Melbourne courtesy of an injury-forced retirement from 10-time champion Novak Djokovic.
In his on-court interview, Zverev – unprompted – made a plea to the crowd to show the 24-time Grand Slam champion more respect, after a section of spectators booed Djokovic’s decision to retire.
confiding in djokovic formed part of late-season renaissance for zverev
It is the latest instalment of a relationship between two players that has always been friendly, with Djokovic often coming close to the role of mentor to the German. This again became apparent when Zverev confided in the Serb in Shanghai last October, as his late-season struggles continued.
“He was always very open to me,” explained Zverev when asked about their exchanges in China.
“I was just asking him how it was for him when he was having difficult moments, you know, 2016, ’17 and all that, how he was coming back.
“We had very long chats there, as well. We practised quite a lot together in Shanghai, funny enough. He was just talking to me about his situations and about his experiences with difficult times.”
Despite being ten years apart in age, Zverev and Djokovic are in a curiously similar position with regards to holding off the advances of the even younger generation – namely, Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
The German is arguably the most gifted active player on tour yet to win a Grand Slam title. For years, this was primarily due to the unprecedented successes of Roger Feder, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic himself.
Now, it is those below him in seniority that are causing the problems. And they also now form the barometer against which Zverev measures his success, progress and practice.
“I’ve made no secret about it: I was very frustrated after the US Open,” he continued.
“My goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete for these kind of tournaments and try to win them. For that, I need to get better. I need to improve on the court. I need to improve physically.
“That’s why I kind of said to the end-of-the-year tournaments, yes, I’m going to play them, but I’m going to play them also to improve and to try to become a better tennis player.
“I was still practising through all the tournaments. I was still doing quite a lot of physical training through the tournaments, as well, for these kind of moments, for Grand Slams and hopefully to be able to lift these kind of trophies.”
french open loss led to reset in team, focus and targets for zverev
The admission that he was below the standard required to win a major title, with the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz yet to hit their prime, appears to have served as a crucial juncture for Zverev.
After the disappointment of that French Open loss last summer, he reunited with renowned physical trainer Jez Green. This did not immediately lead to improved results, as Zverev fell early at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Yet it did lead to an end-of-season flourish as Zverev won the penultimate tournament of his year at the Paris Masters.
But it also formed part of a wider rethink about how he was approaching his tennis. The heart-to-heart with Djokovic in Shanghai was another important component of this, as Zverev moved into one of the most significant off-seasons of his career.
At 27 years of age, and with his younger counterparts already racking up multiple Grand Slam titles, it feels very much as though the next few seasons are a pivotal period in which Zverev needs to make that breakthrough, with each year arguably becoming harder than the last to do so.
Yet, as the opening Grand Slam tournament of the season draws to a close for another year, Zverev has made the best possible start to achieving this goal by reaching his third major final in Melbourne.
It appears that the German’s second-half season syndrome of 2024 has been arrested. What we have seen at this year’s Australian Open over the past fortnight is a rejuvenated and motivated Zverev, once again ready to take aim at the target that has eluded him for so long.
