Alexander Zverev has revealed he needed to take some time to recover from his defeat against Jannik Sinner in this year’s Australian Open final, as he conceded he ‘made some mistakes’ in the aftermath of his loss against the world No 1.
Zverev’s drive to win a Grand Slam title has seen him knock on the door of glory on three occasions, as he has reached the final of the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open.
That elusive first major is still his ultimate dream and in an exclusive interview with Tennis365 at an Adidas event in London, 28-year-old Zverev has opened up about his emotions after he was comprehensively beaten by Sinner in Melbourne.
The German was emotional on the court after his loss and he has conceded it took time for him to come to terms with his latest Grand Slam near miss.
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“It did take me a while to get over it because I really went into the match and I thought, I can win this, I’m going to win,” Zverev told Tennis365.
“Then very quickly, I felt like, well, he’s out playing me on every single aspect. So I felt a bit lost out there at times.
“Jannik was above everyone else the entire tournament and there was nothing else to say, but after that, I made some mistakes.”
Zverev was back in action quickly after his defeat against Sinner in Melbourne as he signed up to play in the South American clay court swing in February, but he admits that was a mistake.
“I think I overplayed,” he continued. “I didn’t give myself, my body and my mind time to accept what happened. I just carried on playing and kind of had a little bit of a burnout in the middle of the season.
“It was too much. Some stupid decisions from my end and I paid the price for them, but that is in the past now. I’m at Wimbledon now, I’m feeling good and I’m looking forward to this tournament.”
Alexander Zverev spoke exclusively to Tennis365 at the launch of the new Adidas The London Originals Collection
Zverev has not got past the fourth round at Wimbledon and admits he has struggled to find his best form on grass, but he believes that could change this year.
“I didn’t particularly love grass before, but I do feel like the last few years I’ve been playing well on the surface, especially last year we said I felt like I was playing my best tennis at Wimbledon, but then I got injured, unfortunately, in the third round against Cam Norrie,” he added.
“I hope this year is going to be no different and hopefully without injury and we’ll see how far I can go and what I can do at this time.
“I feel I feel confident, I feel confident that, you know, it can work out well. People probably wouldn’t think Wimbledon is the Slam I will win, but I’m feeling confident.
“Maybe it’s the one that nobody expects me to win. No one is thinking of me going into the tournament, but I feel I can do well.”
Zverev is the best player in the modern game not to win a Grand Slam and while Wimbledon has not always been his best hunting ground, his huge serve and powerful game could click on grass if he finds his confidence over the next two weeks.
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