“I was mentally affected after Australian Open final”: Alexander Zverev admits to confidence drop before Monte-Carlo debut

Alexander Zverev spoke about the drop in his form over the past few months as he prepares to compete at the Monte-Carlo Masters. ‘Sascha’ started the season strongly by reaching the final of the Australian Open, though he lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner. He then headed to the Golden Swing in South America, where he was the heavy favourite as the only top-15 player.

However, he suffered early exits in both the Argentina Open and Rio Open, losing in the quarter-finals to Argentines Francisco Cerúndolo and Francisco Comesaña, respectively. Back in North America, he played the Mexican Open, this time falling in the round of 16 to teenager Lerner Tien.

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His Sunshine Double wasn’t much better: two wins and two losses, including a surprising first-round defeat at the Miami Open to Tallon Griekspoor and a round-of-16 loss to No.17 seed Arthur Fils in Indian Wells.

Upon arriving in Monte Carlo, the world No. 2 commented on how odd things have been on the ATP Tour lately. “The last few months have been very strange! Jannik can’t play. I’m playing terribly. Carlos [Alcaraz] hasn’t played very well either. Let’s see what happens. I think things are getting back to normal,” he said.

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Zverev had a remote chance to claim the world No. 1 spot for the first time in his career, as Sinner is currently out for three months. However, a string of inconsistent results prevented him from closing the gap. Sinner is expected to return in a month at the Italian Open and still holds a healthy lead in the rankings.

“Roland-Garros remains the main goal. It’s no secret that I’ve struggled in recent weeks. I haven’t been playing my best tennis, although I felt better in Miami. I had some minor physical issues there. These last few weeks have been tough, but things can change, and hopefully this week they will.”

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“Winning matches is the only way to regain confidence and the right mindset. It can turn around quickly,” added the three-time Grand Slam finalist. “The truth is I didn’t rest after the Australian Open. I was mentally affected after the Melbourne final. I was angry, exhausted, and went straight to the South American tour without time to reflect. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision.”

Zverev is the top seed in the Monte-Carlo Masters, which kicks off this Monday. He awaits the winner of the match between Matteo Berrettini and a qualifier.

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