In the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev has stepped up to the plate and done everything he can to compete with Jannik Sinner.
The star ended his wait for a first Grand Slam title by winning Roland Garros earlier this year, capitalising on Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic’s early exit.
He continued his good form into Wimbledon, a tournament he a never previously succeeded at. Prior to the 2026 event, Zverev had not made it past the fourth round of the grass court Grand Slam.
Buoyed by the fact he is now a Grand Slam champion, Zverev reached the final for the first time and pushed Sinner in a high quality final on Centre Court.
Zverev took the opening set against Sinner, but eventually lost the final in four sets.
Now at World No 2 in the ATP Tour rankings, Andrea Petkovic believes the German now has what it takes to reach the summit of the ATP Tour for the first time in his career.
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Speaking to Sport1, Petkovic said: “I think that window of opportunity is definitely there. If Sascha continues where he left off at Wimbledon, the chance is absolutely there.
“Of course, Sinner and Alcaraz will continue to set the tone, so it will be anything but easy. At first, I had the feeling that the old and the new Alexander Zverev were on the court at the same time. The longer the season went on, the more the new style of play prevailed.
“Wimbledon finally showed me that he now completely believes in this game. This is no longer a short-term adjustment, but his new identity on the court. He is more mature, more robust today and knows very well which path he wants to take.”
Zverev is next set to be in action at the Canadian Open, where he will be the top seed after Jannik Sinner confirmed he would not play the Masters event.
The German has not won the Masters event since 2017, when he defeated Roger Federer, Denis Shapovalov, and Kevin Anderson to lift the title.
He will be the overwhelming favourite to win the Canadian Open now, as Novak Djokovic is not playing the event either. If he does win the Canadian Open he will earn yet more ranking points and continue to close the gap between he and Sinner.
After Wimbledon, 4970 ranking points split Zverev and the World No 1, so there is still plenty of work to do for the Roland Garros champion. However, things can change very quickly on the ATP Tour.
The post Alexander Zverev told he now has an ‘opportunity’ to become World No 1 appeared first on Tennis365.
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