Zverev ‘not backing off’ in rivalries with Sinner, Alcaraz

Has Alexander Zverev identified the path to challenging Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz for major titles in 2025?

The German maintained his red-hot late-season form on Friday at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he defeated Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz in straight sets for his eighth consecutive tour-level win. After the match, Zverev was asked about what he could do replicate his Friday-afternoon victory more regularly against his young rivals Sinner and Alcaraz.

“I think everybody talks about how great they are defensively. I don't think they play defence a lot anymore,” said the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings after his 7-6(5), 6-4 win against Alcaraz. “Tennis is not about defence anymore. It used to be a few years back when tennis was quite different, a little bit slower still.

“I think now those guys, 90 per cent of the time they're only playing offence. It's about making sure that you can keep up offensively with them, being able to keep up with their speeds of groundstrokes as well. That's the number one thing. Not backing off, going for your shots in the most important moments.

“That's maybe where I struggled, as well, in my career, trusting my shots and going for them when I need to. I think personally that's something that I still continue to need to work on. Hopefully next year's going to be even better.”

Zverev has shown plenty of shotmaking ability of his own this week in Turin and finished top of John Newcombe Group with a 3-0 record. The 27-year-old, an ATP Masters 1000 champion in Rome and Paris this year, dug deep to stick with Alcaraz on Friday whenever the Spaniard raised his game. Zverev now leads 6-5 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“I thought there were some ridiculous points in the end of the tie-break,” reflected Zverev. “This is the thing about Carlos. He might not be playing at his best, even though I thought he played phenomenal today. I'm just saying generally sometimes he's not playing at his best. All of a sudden in the most important moments, he turns into a different person.

“All of a sudden, you can't hit a winner against him. All of a sudden, he hits every single passing shot on the line. You could put a coin there and he would hit it. That's what makes him one of the best players in the world.

“He did that in the tie-break, as well. He hit two ridiculous passing shots, one forehand and one backhand lob, which were unbelievable. I thought the backhand lob was insane, to be honest.”

Zverev may have one more chance to test his 'all out attack' theory this week at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he and Sinner could meet in the championship match. First, however, the two-time champion at the prestigious season finale must overcome Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals. If Zverev prevails, he will become the first male singles player to notch 70 wins in a season since Andy Murray won 78 in 2016.

“Of course it's nice to have such a high number, but it's not something that you personally think about too much,” said Zverev, who is yet to drop serve this week in Turin, when asked about the milestone. “I think I personally think about trying to win big tournaments, trying to improve for next year to be able to compete with Carlos and with Jannik. That's more on my mind.

“But I'm in the semi-finals, and I'm happy about that. I'm getting the chance to play Taylor again, who beat me the last [three] times we played, at Wimbledon, the US Open [and the Laver Cup]. I'm looking forward to that match.”

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