Even after winning his second Major of the year at the US Open, fans and pundits have hesitated to put Alexander Zverev on the same level as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Even though fans and pundits often express strong opinions, the debate intensifies as World No.55 Tallon Griekspoor has made his views clear on the matter, with the Dutch player even taking a dig at Zverev for an underwhelming final at Flushing Meadows, despite winning the title.
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“I expected it against Shelton. The precedents were obviously already clearly in favor of Zverev found the match rather mediocre,” said Griekspoor in a press conference ahead of Davis Cup. “Zverev wasn’t exceptional, but he served really well. The second set tie-break was crucial. There were other sports going on, and I simply have a hard time watching Zverev.”
“Especially in this tournament, where he bounced the ball 400 times before every serve. It was really extreme, but it obviously helped him… There’s not a hair on my head that thinks so I hope they both return to great levels very soon. But if those two were to fail during a tournament, Zverev is always the one who is ready. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he ended his career with four or five Slams .”
Griekspoor is not wrong regarding the matchup between Zverev and Shelton. The German did have a 5-0 head-to-head record against the American before the final and had a terrific record against left-handed players. Shelton, too, was understandably nervous in his maiden Major final, as he made some crucial double faults to begin the match and handed an early advantage to Zverev, who played his usual brand of defensive baseline tennis, while making his move to the net occasionally, especially during the second-set tiebreak.
The ball bouncing might not have been a problem for Zverev, but there were a few of his opponents who made their frustrations known. His semifinal opponent, Karen Khachanov, made it clear in no uncertain terms that excessive ball-bouncing before serves often disrupted opponents’ rhythm and made for a tedious watch for the audience. In light of the issue, Ben Shelton called for a change to the rules to introduce time limits on the second serve, with Martina Navratilova calling for a limit on the number of bounces a player could have.
As for Griekspoor’s comments about Zverev’s overall run in New York in the absence of Sinner and Alcaraz, the debate can go on. The German’s draw opened up considerably with the early exits of the likes of Lorenzo Musetti and Taylor Fritz, who were in his section of the draw. Zverev’s form in the leadup to the Major was poor as he had early exits in Montreal and Cincinnati, including a loss to Griekspoor himself in Canada.
Zverev himself was cautious about answering questions about who was the best in the world, as he did not hide the fact that he still had some catching up to do with Sinner and Alcaraz.
Alexander Zverev Made a Cautious Statement About Who Is the Best After the US Open
Winning two Majors in a single Grand Slam season definitely puts a player on a higher pedestal, but Zverev was cautious about not making any outlandish statements after his US Open win. The German did confess that he felt being the best player in the world in the absence of Sinner and Alcaraz, but when those two were healthy and firing, the World No.2 had no hesitation in admitting his shortcomings.
“I don’t know how to answer that. You have to take everything into consideration. With Jannik Sinner being injured and Carlos Alcaraz coming back from injury after four months, right now, at this moment, probably yes,” Alexander Zverev said in his post-match press conference. “But if both of them are healthy and both are at the top of their game, maybe not. Four or five months ago, when both of them were healthy, I wasn’t. I was losing to Jannik all the time. So if everyone is healthy, I think Jannik is still ahead. It’s as simple as that.”
Zverev has a 25-2 win-loss record at Majors this year, with two of his losses coming at the hands of Alcaraz (Australian Open semifinal) and Sinner (Wimbledon final). However, the German has had his fair share of luck this season, as only three of his twenty-five Grand Slam match wins this year came against a Top-10-seeded player. The German has improved his game and become a more developed player, but it remains to be seen whether he can take the fight to the duo of Alcaraz and Sinner when they are fully fit.