Alexander Zverev should head to Monte Carlo brimming with confidence, after what has been a solid start to the new season.
However, this upcoming stretch of events will be crucial if he is to realise his ultimate ambition of winning a Grand Slam title.
Having enjoyed a hugely impressive career, this is the one thing missing from his sprawling CV, and he will likely view Roland Garros as his best opportunity to achieve it.
Frustratingly, his preparation for the Monte Carlo Masters has been lacking. And yet, Alexander Zverev has argued that this is actually a good thing.
Alexander Zverev discusses his preparation for Monte Carlo
Speaking to the media, he began by rating his performances during the Sunshine Swing.
Zverev began by claiming: “I mean, it was I feel like quite positive, of course. I would have loved to win an event.
Do you really believe that Alexander Zverev can win a Grand Slam title?
“I feel like in Miami especially, I played really good tennis, and the match with Jannik was maybe closer than the score suggested. I had my chances in the second set, but, you know, he won both tournaments; he was playing unbelievable tennis, best player in the world, for sure, on a hard court at the moment, and he deserved everything.”
Then, discussing his tennis in general, having made a conscious shift towards adding aggression to his game, he added: “Just the things that I worked on, I feel like they’re kind of paying off.
“Obviously, yeah, I’ve been more of an aggressive style, a bit taking on the game myself, and I feel like, yeah, in those regards, they were quite positive weeks.
“Of course, getting the win in the end would have been nice, but it is how it is sometimes, and we move forward, we’re on a clay now, we’re in Monte Carlo, and I hope to play good tennis here as well.”
Zverev concluded by noting his lack of preparation for this event: “Yeah, I took three days off and then started training on Tuesday afternoon. Here in Monte Carlo, you know, we’re all getting ready for the tournament, of course, we don’t have that much time.
“But, you know, that’s a positive thing, because that means that you played well in Miami and you played well in the tournaments leading up to this event and, you know, we’re all here, we’re all getting ready, and hopefully I can show good tennis here.”
Zverev has insisted he thinks he will win a Grand Slam title this year. His performance in Monaco this coming week will likely offer a good indication as to whether that might be at the French Open.
Why Alexander Zverev could have a dominant clay-court season
Whilst it’s hard for anyone to dominate when Alcaraz and Sinner are still ever-present, Zverev will certainly fancy his chances on the clay.
After all, it is his favoured surface, and he has proven in recent months that he certainly can compete with the world’s top two players.
In Melbourne, Zverev stunned Alcaraz in their semi-final match, before the Spaniard engineered an incredible comeback.
Do you think Alexander Zverev has what it takes to win a Grand Slam?
Then, as the German noted, he played well in Miami, but just lost to the best hard-court player in the world in Sinner.
Zverev will be excited at the prospect of testing his new techniques against these two on clay, at events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.
He has won both of the latter two events and is a two-time semi-finalist in Monaco. There is cause for great optimism for the 29-year-old ahead of the clay-court season.
