Alexander Zverev’s time at the Munich Open ended at the semi-final stage as he was defeated by an inspired Flavio Cobolli.
The Italian played one of the best matches of his career so far to defeat Zverev comfortably in straight sets.
Cobolli has been impressive in Munich and he will now await the winner between Arthur Fils and Rafael Jodar in the final.
For Zverev, however, he continued a very worrying trend by losing the Munich Open semi-final in front of his home crowd.
What is clearly holding Alexander Zverev back on the ATP Tour
Zverev’s loss to Cobolli means the German has now lost nine of his last 10 semi-final matches on the ATP Tour.
What does Alexander Zverev need to change to beat Jannik Sinner again?
He's now lost nine times in a row…
The world number three’s only victory since June last year came at the Vienna Open when he defeated Lorenzo Musetti.
Alexander Zverev’s last 10 semi-final results
- LOST: 2026 Munich – Flavio Cobolli
- LOST: Monte-Carlo Masters – Jannik Sinner
- LOST: Miami Open – Jannik Sinner
- LOST: Indian Wells – Jannik Sinner
- LOST: Australian Open – Carlos Alcaraz
- LOST: Paris Masters – Jannik Sinner
- WON: Vienna Open – Lorenzo Musetti
- LOST: Cincinnati Open – Carlos Alcaraz
- LOST: Canadian Open – Karen Khachanov
- LOST: Halle Open – Daniil Medvedev
Zverev has reached a semi-final on every surface in the last 10 months, but he has worryingly only made one final.
Six of those losses have come to either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, but he’s also lost to Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov, and now Cobolli.
While 10 finals in as many months is incredibly impressive from Zverev, the German has definitely showcased a mental block with his recent form.
Alexander Zverev misses another major opportunity
Zverev has proved over the past two years that he is getting nowhere closer to challenging Sinner and Alcaraz.
However, what is more of a worry for the German is he hasn’t won a tournament in 12 months now, since his victory in Munich in 2025.
Do you really believe that Alexander Zverev can win a Grand Slam title?
And it’s getting harder and harder to blame that reason on Sinner and Alcaraz.
Zverev has now played two 2026 tournaments this year that haven’t featured the top two players on the ATP Tour.
In Acapulco, he was disappointingly defeated in the second round to Miomir Kecmanovic by a deciding tie-break.
His Munich loss was another opportunity to claim a title while Sinner and Alcaraz are not competing.
It’s clear that Zverev’s issues on the court are more mental than physical and it’s halting his progress in trying to challenge the better players on Tour.
