Michael
Stich, speaking on the SkySports podcast "Maddog & Wingman,"
shared his thoughts on
Alexander Zverev, expressing the view that the German
player has not shown significant development in the past four years.
Stich, a
former German tennis player who won the 1991 Wimbledon Championship (defeating
Boris Becker) and reached two other Grand Slam finals at the US Open and Roland
Garros, is now a tennis commentator.
Zverev
faced a significant setback with a serious ankle injury in the semifinals of
the 2022 French Open while performing well against the 14-times champion Rafael
Nadal. This injury kept him out of the ATP Tour for the entire year, and he
made his comeback in 2023. Zverev was initially outside the top 20 until early
July but managed to stage a strong late-season campaign to re-enter the top 10
(No. 7) and qualify for the ATP Finals.
Despite
these achievements, Michael Stich analyzed Zverev's game and expressed the
opinion that the young German player still needs to take the next step to
become a better tennis player:
“In most
cases the judgments of many observers are well-intentioned; they actually wish
that he would take this next step so that he could become an even better tennis
player. I think he always sees this as criticism of himself and his game -
which it really isn't," Stich stated.
" In
the last three or four years - from my perspective - he hasn't managed to
really develop his game further. (...) Whether he can and wants to do that,
only he knows,” he added.
"It
was a strong comeback year. That was not to be expected, that has to be said
very clearly. He was there at the finals. If he was in the summer If someone
had said: 'Come on, boy, you're in the Top 8 in Turin,' he would have looked a
bit strange at first. But he did it."
Zverev had
a strong performance in his 6th participation in the Finals, although it was
not enough to qualify for the semifinals. 'Sascha' made a notable start by
surprising the world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the first match (6-7, 6-3, 6-4).
However, he experienced a defeat against Daniil Medvedev (6-7, 6-4) and
concluded with a solid victory over Andrey Rublev (6-4, 6-4).