MELBOURNE
– There is no hesitation from world number two and Australian Open finalist Alexander Zverev. ‘I’m ready,’ he warns. Ready for what? To win his first Grand Slam title, to be the champion the world has been demanding of him since his breakthrough on the circuit in 2017.
‘I’m looking forward to Sunday, I feel like I’ve done the job,’ he told the press about his chances of winning his first Grand Slam after losing the US Open final in 2020 and Roland Garros in 2024.
With the best tennis of his career as a guarantor, which allowed him to defeat on Friday the Serbian Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-5) and abandon, the German is confident of his chances against Jannik Sinner, one of the world and defending champion.
‘He’s been the best player in the world for the last 12 months, there’s no doubt about that,’ he admitted of the Italian, who beat American Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-2 in the second semi-final.
The test will be no less, but the ATP No. 2 made changes to rise to the occasion.
‘I was very frustrated after the US Open. I was very disappointed with myself, with my performance and how I played there. My goal was still to compete in this kind of tournaments, and for that, I needed to improve physically. I played the tournaments at the end of the year to improve and try to become a better player. I still do a lot of physical training through the tournaments.
Zverev was also blunt about the reasons why he missed the 2024 Roland Garros final. ‘I got tired against Carlos (Alcaraz). I just got tired in the fourth and fifth set,’ he said. For the same reason he also re-hired Jez Green as a fitness trainer.
In Paris he held a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 lead,, while in his first Grand Slam final, at the 2020 US Open, he lost the match after winning the first two sets against Austrian Dominic Thiem.
‘It would be nice to win one more set after winning the first two, but Grand Slam finals are always tough. I lost twice in the fifth set and maybe it’s time to get lucky in a Grand Slam final,’ he said on court about those bad experiences.
At 27, he is at the peak of his game and is ready to put behind him the two finals and six semi-finals he has lost in major tournaments over the past five years.
Zverev dreams of ending his curse and becoming the third player of the 90’s generation to win a Grand Slam after Thiem in 2020 and Daniil Medvedev in 2021. Both at the US Open.
Consecration is just a step away. He hopes that this time his only rival will be on the other side of the court and not inside his head.
