My Apology to Alexander Zverev

With the end of the Big Three era in tennis a new hierarchy within the sport has emerged. The young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz seems fit to fill the shoes of Rafael Nadal. Daniil Medvedev possesses a defensive tenacity and unique game that has won him a Grand Slam and several finals appearances. Jannik Sinner, the only one of the group to have not won a major title, has an all-court game that has prevailed over each other member of this category. And of course, Novak Djokovic, ever present even in his mid-thirties. These four are the new top dogs in tennis. If you’re predicting who is going to win a slam, well you are probably picking one of these four. 

Then there is the second tier. The guys who maybe could somehow possibly win one. Maybe if Djokovic is injured or upset in the early rounds. Maybe if they get lucky with the draw and play the match of their life against Alcaraz or Medvedev in the finals. Maybe they could do it. Some of them have even been to the final round. These are your Berrettini’s, your Tsitsipas’, Rublev, Hurkacz, Rune, Ruud. They are clearly top ten players. They could beat almost anyone in the world. But they can’t beat those four in the top tier. At least, not when it matters most. 

And for a while I made a mistake. For a long time I made this mistake. Several years now I have included someone on that list wrongfully. I don’t fully know why. I only know that every time a Grand Slam rolled around his name was in the second tier of contenders.

Alexander Zverev, I apologize. You are in the first tier. 

Last night showed it all. It showed the faults in Zverev’s game, but it also showcased his strengths. It also displayed his improvements and why he has moved out of that second tier. He showed a fight that I have not seen since his 2022 French Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal. And I no longer consider it unwise to say that Alexander Zverev might just win the whole thing.

In the first two sets we saw Alexander Zverev annihilate former number one and current number two in the world Carlos Alcaraz. 6-1, 6-3, he ran through the Spaniard like a freight train. It was vintage Zverev, the Zverev we all thought could be the top player in the world someday back in 2017. He dominated with his groundstrokes from the baseline and aggressively cut off all angles, ending points quick and digging deep when necessary. It was a masterclass.

Then came the Zverev that had fallen into the second tier. 

Up two sets and a break, the shakiness which has plagued him at times started to appear. Alcaraz fought his way back. With the chance to serve it out Zvereve could not close. Alcaraz then ran away in the tiebreaker 7-2. In the fourth set Zverev breaks to open before giving the break right back. It was tied as late as 4-4 in the set. 

In the past he might have crumbled. I remember him having a two sets to love lead over Dominic Thiem in the finals of the 2020 US Open. And then it all fell apart. But it wasn’t to be this time. This time around Alexander Zverev dug deep. He broke Alcaraz to go up 5-4, and unlike in the previous set, he held his serve to finish the match.

I like to think that this was the monkey off of Zverev’s back. After failing over the final hurdles one too many times, watching matches slip away against the top opponents, it was this time that he finally calmed those nerves. Because if it is, Alexander Zverev will no longer be a dark horse candidate, but rather a contending favorite.