From Aussie highs to clay struggles: Alexander Zverev laments schedule misstep

Alexander Zverev reflected on the mistake he made by heading to the Golden Swing after reaching the final at the Australian Open. The German arrived full of confidence and as a heavy favourite for the South American clay-court swing but came away with disappointing results.

Zverev had his eye on the World No. 1 spot after Jannik Sinner’s three-month suspension was announced. Despite the large points gap, time appeared to be on the German’s side, with four Masters 1000 events and several other tournaments ahead.

He travelled to South America for the Argentina Open, where he fell in the quarter-finals to local favourite Francisco Cerúndolo. Then at the ATP 500 Rio Open, he once again exited in the quarter-finals, this time at the hands of another Argentine, Francisco Comesaña.

Upon returning to hard courts, Zverev also struggled to meet expectations. He lost in the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open, suffered a first-round exit at Indian Wells, and only reached the Round of 16 in Miami — underwhelming results for a player who was the top seed at each of those events.

The start of the European clay swing didn’t bring much improvement either. Zverev was defeated by Matteo Berrettini, who mounted a comeback to win 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. The drop in Zverev’s level — after starting the season as a Grand Slam finalist — caused him to fall a spot in the rankings this week following Carlos Alcaraz’s title run in Monte-Carlo.

“I’ve said many times that tennis is like any other sport and business,” Zverev said about his South American tour. “I didn’t make the decision to play in South America after the Australian Open; I made that decision six or seven months earlier.”

“It wasn’t the smartest decision to play in South America a week after the Australian Open on a different surface. That’s clear to me,” he added.

It’s now been mathematically impossible for Zverev to catch Sinner for a few weeks. The Italian is set to return at the upcoming Italian Open, a tournament where he has no points to defend, unlike Zverev who must defend the title — followed by the final at Roland Garros. With a gap of over 2,000 points still in place, it seems unlikely that Sinner will lose the top spot, especially considering both Zverev and Alcaraz are defending the most points across the clay swing until Roland Garros concludes in June.