Alexander Zverev has enjoyed a historic past few months, resulting in his maiden Grand Slam title and his best-ever run at Wimbledon.
The natural surfaces have provided the foundation for him to completely reshape the outlook on his career; once the greatest nearly man in tennis history, now a player on the outskirts of the Hall of Fame.
However, at 29 years of age, his career is far from over.
In fact, his performance at Wimbledon actually suggested that this could prove to be a miraculous rebirth of sorts, which revolutionises his chances of further success.
Patrick Mouratoglou has therefore been discussing whether Alexander Zverev actually has a chance of properly embedding himself within the sport’s clear top two men, creating a new Big Three with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Alexander Zverev told he is still far away from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s level
Back in May, Andy Roddick criticised Zverev for claiming Sinner was a level above himself and Alcaraz. The pundit, like many, felt like it was disingenuous to group him in amongst this legendary duo.
However, given he has now joined them as major champions, it does feel a little different.
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And yet, Mouratoglou remains uncertain when speaking on his Instagram.
He argued: “Zverev is on the right path. But do I think he is there? Not yet.
“I mean, it was a big milestone for him to win his first Grand Slam and be in the final of the next one, especially on clay. And grass, he definitely reached another level.
“Is he at the level of Alcaraz and Sinner yet? I don’t think so.
“And even though he played some of his best tennis in the [Wimbledon] final, and Sinner was, I think, not at his best, he still didn’t win it.
“For him to be able to play aggressively with consistency and efficiency, he has to show that he’s able to do this over and over again until it becomes second nature. Otherwise, he starts, for example, the US swing and he knows he’s gonna beat those guys because he has margin; he starts to again. Control from the baseline, not be so aggressive. But if Zverev is to really make the step, he needs to practice this every single match, which he didn’t do yet.”
How far away is Alexander Zverev from being world number one?
Having finally overtaken Alcaraz and retaken the world number two spot, Zverev will surely now have the very top within his sights.
Frustratingly, he is still some distance from that pinnacle, no matter how close it may seem in the live rankings.
After all, whilst just one place separates them, the number of ranking points between them is huge.
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Will Jannik Sinner still be on top?
In fact, the gulf between Sinner and Zverev in first and second (4970) is actually wider than the one between Zverev and Flavio Cobolli, who sits ninth in the world rankings.
The world number one will have to defend final points from the Cincinnati Open and US Open in the coming months, but will also likely gain a handsome amount from competing in Canada after opting against it in 2025.
If the German is to overtake Sinner, it will likely require a herculean effort spread out over not just the next few months, but years.
