Match Response
New World No. 2 Zverev says he hasn’t damaged Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly but
German set to compete in twelfth Masters 1000 closing
November 02, 2024
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
The German is chasing a seventh Masters 1000 title on the Rolex Paris Masters.
By ATP Employees
The grind by no means stops for Alexander Zverev.
After securing a complete semi-final victory over former champion Holger Rune on the Rolex Paris Masters Saturday, Zverev headed to the follow court docket, searching for incremental enchancment that he hopes will permit him to problem the duopoly on the prime of the lads’s sport.
“For me, it is about bettering a couple of issues. I really feel like Jannik [Sinner] and Carlos [Alcaraz] are doing a couple of issues higher than me in the meanwhile. I wish to enhance,” mentioned Zverev.
“I wish to enhance not for tomorrow, not for at present, or due to the matches I performed right here. I wish to typically enhance for subsequent 12 months as properly.”
Along with his win over Rune, Zverev notched his sixty fifth win of the 12 months and tied Sinner for probably the most wins on Tour this season, in keeping with the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He additionally overtook Alcaraz and climbed to the No. 2 spot within the PIF ATP Stay Rankings. The German believes they’re nonetheless at a better degree and that he must work exhausting to catch up.
“It is good to be again on the highest place that I’ve been to date. After all, I wish to get increased. However for me, Jannik has [had] the very best 12 months this season, and Carlos had the second-best 12 months. He gained two Grand Slams,” he shared.
“I do know that I am forward of him within the rankings, however he gained Wimbledon and Roland Garros. These are two large titles. So, they’re nonetheless the 2 greatest gamers on this planet, for my part, in the meanwhile.”
The 27-year-old, who is about to compete on the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 10-17 November in Turin, is strategising to maintain up together with his two greatest rivals, and is specializing in growing his depth to match the extent of aggression that they create to their respective video games.
“I feel after they get a simple ball, after they’re in an attacking place, 90 per cent of the time the purpose is over, whether or not it is a winner or an unforced error. That is how exhausting they hit the ball, that is how aggressive they’re. I feel in that facet I can enhance. That is what I am attempting to do,” he mentioned.
“Jannik has improved loads this 12 months. There are some issues Carlos has improved. I feel Novak, over the previous 15, [or] 20 years, has improved each single 12 months. For those who ask him whether or not he is a greater tennis participant final 12 months, for instance 2023 or 2022 even, or 10 years in the past when he was youthful, I feel he would say that he is a greater tennis participant now.”
After struggling a severe ankle damage on the 2022 Roland Garros and persevering with to recuperate from it in 2023, the 27-year-old is happy to return to his greatest degree. Contemporary off his maiden Grand Slam closing on the 2020 US Open, Zverev had gained six tour-level titles in 2021, together with the Nitto ATP Finals, and was halfway by probably the greatest Roland Garros semi-finals of the Open Period with Nadal with tragedy struck.
“There was a interval the place it was shifting in direction of the path of slightly little bit of a change, after which 2022 I felt like I used to be going [in] an excellent path at Roland Garros. I used to be going [to] hopefully to realize my dream of profitable Roland Garros. I used to be No. 2 on this planet. I used to be very near turning into World No. 1, as properly. It was stepping into that path, after which there was a two-year cease to that course of. [For] two years I used to be not aggressive for Grand Slams, not aggressive for World No. 1 and people issues,” he mentioned.
“So I am glad to be again the place I’m. “There was by no means a assure that I’d be again at this degree. For positive for me, it is a fantastic satisfaction to be again, however once more, I wish to enhance and I wish to go even increased.”
The German, chasing his seventh Masters 1000 title, will play Frenchman Ugo Humbert in his twelfth Masters closing in Paris on Sunday.