Alexander Zverev has had his ‘ego’ called into question by former world No 9 Coco Vandeweghe after the German placed himself in the same bracket as Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
The debate comes at a time when the men’s tour appears increasingly dominated by two names few names, with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz continuing to separate himself from the rest of the field through a remarkable run of form.
Zverev recently suffered a crushing 6-1, 6-2 defeat to Sinner in the final of the Madrid Open, with the Italian needing just 58 minutes to secure the title.
Despite the one-sided result, the world No 3 insisted that there are currently clear tiers at the top of men’s tennis.
“Well, I think there’s a big gap between [Jannik] Sinner and everybody else right now,’ said Zverev.
“It’s quite simple. I think there’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else.
“And I think there’s a big gap between [Carlos] Alcaraz, myself, maybe Novak [Djokovic], and everybody else. I think there are two gaps right now.”
Zverev’s comments came after Sinner became the first man to win five consecutive Masters 1000 titles, including all four Masters events staged so far this season.
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However, Vandeweghe strongly disagreed with Zverev’s assessment and argued that the German has not yet earned the right to place himself alongside multiple Grand Slam champions.
“I think it’s a non-starter,” she said on the Big T Podcast.
“Sascha [Zverev] is not in the same conversation as Jannik [Sinner], Carlos [Alcaraz], or Novak [Djokovic], because of the one thing that he’s missing, a Grand Slam.
“He’s not a Grand Slam-winner, has been close, for sure, has been three in the world, two in the world, for a long time, but that elusive Grand Slam, that’s what changes the difference of who becomes a Hall Of Famer.
“Do you have that Grand Slam title?
“Because there are plenty of world number ones who never won a Grand Slam, [Marcelo] Rios being one of them that comes straight to mind, who won’t be a Hall Of Famer, because he doesn’t have that Grand Slam.
“So I think it’s not fair to the accomplishments of Novak, Carlos, and Jannik that Sascha would even think that he’s in that same category.
“I think that’s a completely separate category.”
Indeed, Zverev has reached three Grand Slam finals during his career but is still searching for his maiden major title.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz and Sinner have completely dominated the sport over the past two years, winning all nine Grand Slam titles contested in that period. The pair also sit more than 7,000 ranking points ahead of Zverev, who remains their closest challenger in the ATP rankings.
Despite the significant gap in achievements, Zverev has been remarkably consistent at Masters 1000 level and has not lost to anyone other than Sinner at those events since the Shanghai Masters last season.
At the Australian Open, however, he also missed a major opportunity after failing to serve out his semi-final clash against Alcaraz.
“Now, if we come to contenders, I think he is number three if everyone is healthy, Jannik, Carlos, Sascha,” Vandeweghe acknowledged.
“Only because we haven’t seen Novak, but you can never count out the great champion Novak Djokovic.
“Novak, out of respect, needs to be ahead of Sascha, but just because we haven’t seen anything, it means that you have got to put a little bit of a question mark.
“I think it’s unfair for Sascha to even think that he’s in that realm, and to your question of ‘Do you think he meant it that way?’, I absolutely think he meant it that way, I think he absolutely has the ego.
“I’m not saying you don’t need it; it’s a great illusion, otherwise, you’ve lost before you step out of the locker room.
“That’s the hardest part as a player, to believe that you belong.”
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