Alexander Zverev suffered another blow in his quest to win a maiden Grand Slam title at the 2025 US Open, and acclaimed tennis coach Rick Macci believes the German’s mentality is holding him back.
The world No 3 suffered a surprise 6-4, 6-7(7), 4-6, 4-6 defeat to world No 27 Felix Auger-Aliassime in three hours and 49 minutes in the third round at Flushing Meadows.
It was Zverev‘s second successive early exit at a Grand Slam after he fell in the opening round of Wimbledon to Arthur Rinderknech last month. The German’s quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic at this year’s French Open was his earliest loss at Roland Garros since 2020.
Zverev’s dip in form at the majors comes after he lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final in January.
That Melbourne blow was Zverev’s third defeat in as many Grand Slam championship matches after five-set losses to Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 French Open and Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.
The rise of Sinner and Alcaraz, who have won the last seven majors between them, means Zverev’s hopes of winning a Grand Slam appear bleaker than ever.
In an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Macci gave his verdict on whether the 28-year-old German can still win a Grand Slam title.
“It’s possible,” said the former coach of Venus and Serena Williams. “It’s possible because he’s rock solid off the ground. The forehand can be a little dicey at times. He has one of the best serves, he moves great, defends great for a big guy.
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“I don’t know what goes on sometimes with him mentally. He kind of is in and out a little bit.
“But he’s capable and if there would have been anybody that I thought would have visited that neighbourhood (winning a major), he would have been the one because he has the serve and he’s solid off the ground and he moves well.
“So it’ll be interesting to see if he can flip the script. But then again everybody else is getting better. I don’t know, mentally he just seems like sometimes he goes away too easily. And to be great, you gotta be there every point.”
Asked if Zverev’s collaboration with renowned coach Toni Nadal could help, Macci said: “Absolutely, it can’t hurt.
“But once again, it depends on what the person’s saying, how you’re receiving it. Are you gonna apply it? What little modifications or adaptations are you gonna make to your game?”
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