Sinner, Alcaraz inspire Zverev to find new areas of improvement, no matter how small | ATP Tour

Match Reaction

New World No. 2 Zverev says he hasn’t broken Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly yet

German set to compete in 12th Masters 1000 final

November 02, 2024

The grind never stops for Alexander Zverev.

After securing a comprehensive semi-final victory over former champion Holger Rune at the Rolex Paris Masters Saturday, Zverev headed to the practice court, looking for incremental improvement that he hopes will allow him to challenge the duopoly at the top of the men’s game.

“For me, it’s about improving a few things. I feel like Jannik [Sinner] and Carlos [Alcaraz] are doing a few things better than me at the moment. I want to improve,” said Zverev.

“I want to improve not for tomorrow, not for today, or because of the matches I played here. I want to generally improve for next year as well.”

With his win over Rune, Zverev notched his 65th win of the year and tied Sinner for the most wins on Tour this season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He also overtook Alcaraz and climbed to the No. 2 spot in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. The German believes they are still at a higher level and that he needs to work hard to catch up.

“It’s nice to be back at the highest position that I have been so far. Of course, I want to get higher. But for me, Jannik has [had] the best year this season, and Carlos had the second-best year. He won two Grand Slams,” he shared.

“I know that I’m ahead of him in the rankings, but he won Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Those are two massive titles. So, they are still the two best players in the world, in my opinion, at the moment.”

The 27-year-old, who is set to compete at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 10-17 November in Turin, is strategising to keep up with his two biggest rivals, and is focusing on increasing his intensity to match the level of aggression that they bring to their respective games.

“I think when they get an easy ball, when they’re in an attacking position, 90 per cent of the time the point is over, whether it’s a winner or an unforced error. That’s how hard they hit the ball, that’s how aggressive they are. I think in that aspect I can improve. That’s what I’m trying to do,” he said.

“Jannik has improved a lot this year. There are some things Carlos has improved. I think Novak, over the past 15, [or] 20 years, has improved every single year. If you ask him whether he’s a better tennis player last year, let’s say 2023 or 2022 even, or 10 years ago when he was younger, I think he would say that he’s a better tennis player now.”

After suffering a serious ankle injury at the 2022 Roland Garros and continuing to recover from it in 2023, the 27-year-old is pleased to return to his best level. Fresh off his maiden Grand Slam final at the 2020 US Open, Zverev had won six tour-level titles in 2021, including the Nitto ATP Finals, and was midway through one of the best Roland Garros semi-finals of the Open Era with Nadal with tragedy struck.

“There was a period where it was moving towards the direction of a little bit of a change, and then 2022 I felt like I was going [in] a very good direction at Roland Garros. I was going [to] hopefully to achieve my dream of winning Roland Garros. I was No. 2 in the world. I was very close to becoming World No. 1, as well. It was going in that direction, and then there was a two-year stop to that process. [For] two years I was not competitive for Grand Slams, not competitive for World No. 1 and those things,” he said.

“So I’m happy to be back where I am. “There was never a guarantee that I would be back at this level. For sure for me, it’s a great satisfaction to be back, but again, I want to improve and I want to go even higher.”

The German, chasing his seventh Masters 1000 title, will play Frenchman Ugo Humbert in his 12th Masters final in Paris on Sunday.