"I was mentally extremely down": Alexander Zverev admits regret comments after Australian Open final defeat

World number two Germany’s Alexander Zverev has clarified his comments which he gave after the final of the Australian Open 2024. The 27-year-old is often regarded as one of the most talented players on the tour for quiet some time but has not been able to replicate his success on the court, especially when it comes to winning a major tournament.

The German tennis star recently suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the Australian Open to reigning world number one Italy’s Jannik Sinner in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. It was not the first time Zverev suffered such heartbreak.

In 2020, he finished as the runner-up at the US Open after losing to Dominic Thiem in a five-set thriller with a score of 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6. Four years later, in 2024, Zverev once again lost in the final of a Grand Slam, this time to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who lifted the French Open after winning an epic five-set encounter with a score of 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2.

After the Melbourne match, Zverev stated that he felt like he was not ‘good enough’ to win a Grand Slam after failing thrice in the final. "It sucks standing next to this thing and not being able to touch it,” he said back in January. “I was hoping I could be more competitive today We're trying to do all the right work, I'm just not good enough. It's as simple as that.”

Zverev, who recently featured in the Argentina Open where his journey came to an end after losing in the quarterfinal to Francisco Cerundolo, has now been quoted in a report where he clarified his comments after the Australian Open final defeat and admitted that he regrets saying what he did back then.

"I was mentally extremely down and so I was very disappointed with the final and how [it] went,” he said. “Now looking back at it, I regret what I said. I regret saying that after Grand Slam final that I'm maybe not good enough. Because at the end of the day, the final was not good enough. He was much, much better than me. Jannik fully deserved to win, and he was the much better player than me.”