"Man wakes up terrified of his own shadow": Fans lambast Alexander Zverev after early Madrid Open exit

Fans on social media lambasted Germany’s Alexander Zverev after another dismal outing. The 28-year-old was knocked out of the ongoing Madrid Open after losing in the fourth round to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-3.

The defeat is another blow for the reigning world number two, who was hoping to get some sort of a winning streak, especially after winning the Munich Open last week, where he defeated America’s Ben Shelton in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4.

With that result, Zverev, who remains the world's number-two-ranked player, has advanced past the quarterfinals stage on just two occasions, despite competing in eight events. On two occasions, he ended up being knocked out after losing the first-round contest as well. The only other time when he managed to get past the last-eight stage this year was at the Australian Open, where he finished as the runner-up after losing to the reigning world number one, Italy’s Jannik Sinner, in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

After another disappointing outing, the fans on social media lambasted the German tennis star, with some ending up calling him the mentally ‘weakest’ top tennis player in the world. “Alexander Zverev is quite easily the mentally weakest top tennis player I've ever seen. Man wakes up terrified of his own shadow,” a fan with the username of @BarclayCard18 wrote in a post on the social media platform X—previously known as Twitter. "There are still people who believe Zverev is capable of winning a slam," another one wrote in a sarcastic tone. “"I can't wait for Sinner to be back on the courts next week. I'm sick of seeing Zverev as the number 1 seed. He was awful again today," one more fan wrote.