Alexander Zverev, turned into a zombie, doesn’t know where to go. Glassy eyes and broken voice. Lost look from the German, defeated for the second time in the final on a big stage and, in some way, extending that kind of stigma that is shared in the backroom of tennis, where the idea that perhaps he was born at the wrong time continues to spread. , perhaps at the wrong time, and that if he had had one more point of fortune he could be a figure of maximum brilliance today. He has something of a cursed tennis player, the giant, denied four years ago in the New York outcome by the Austrian Dominic Thiem, in a final that he had on track, and reduced again by Carlos Alcaraz. Severe punishment again. Another shot into limbo.
The Hamburger expresses himself elegantly, praising his rival and recognizing his superiority. Aware, also, of the decisive error he made in the final stretch, when one of his mental lapses tipped the balance in favor of the Spaniard: a slight disconnection, a couple of complaints that made him lose concentration, and he returned to his old ways . Again, goodbye. Another big one that escapes him. He is 27 years old and has titles of all colors, but he still lacks the touch of a great. Wandering finalist Zverev.
“I feel like I did well, but there were very unfortunate moments in the fifth set. I have heard that his throw at 2-1 was bad, I have seen it from the Hawkeye data. And if he had broken it there…”, he introduces, referring to a moment in which the judge ended up considering that Alcaraz’s serve had entered the frame, and that therefore the double fault did not exist. “Then I have had options to break in the following games and could have fallen on the other side. But that’s what there is. He has played incredible, better than me in the fourth and fifth sets. I feel that in this final I have done everything I could. At the US Open I lowered my arms, so it’s a little different,” he says.
There is no doubt that the Zverev of today is different from the one who tended to break down emotionally easily. However, he continues to suffer from that plus and that spark that differentiates the good from the best, those who resist the psychological storm from those who do not. He grows, progresses and moves towards an interesting maturity, but for now his tennis is not enough for him and the shadow of two new phenomena hangs over his future possibilities. After enduring the scourge of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, he now faces the inevitable rise of two outliers, Sinner and Alcaraz.
“We are both physically strong, but he is a beast. An animal. The intensity with which he plays tennis is different compared to others. He can do many different things,” describes the Murcian. “I think he changed his tactics a lot in the fifth set. He started playing much higher, deeper so that I didn’t create as much power; He has become slower, especially with the shadows on the track. He is a fantastic player, physically too. I have to see together with my team what I can do to be at the same level,” he adds, overlooking a determining facet in the analysis.
Of the 23 break options he has had, he has only managed to take advantage of six, compared to Alcaraz’s nine (out of 16). That is to say, he still lacks the fang of the great champions, that instinct that elevates the chosen ones in the most delicate circumstances. “Third Grand Slam at 21 years old, it’s incredible,” he addresses the opponent in the final ceremony. “There are three different ones and it is already an impressive race. A Hall of Fame career. And you are,” he repeats, “21 years old.” The healthy envy that Zverev feels is reasonable, because the Murcian is where a decade ago it was expected that he could be, an immature professional who over time has been correcting the direction. There is a will and, in any case, the route of these two weeks is meritorious, alighting Rafael Nadal at the start and disembarking at the last station. He missed, again, the last kidney blow.
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