"I do think he is going to be back": Mats Wilander names 'one of the contenders' for French Open

Former world number one Mats Wilander believes that Germany’s Alexander Zverev will be one of the favourites to lift the title at the French Open. The second Grand Slam of the year will begin on May 25, where players from all over the world will compete to secure the ultimate prize.

Former world number one Wilander has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis 365, where he was labelled as one of the favourites to lift the title. The 60-year-old was of the opinion that the German tennis star’s recent slump in form is a ‘natural reaction’.

“Now that I watched him play, I do feel that he looks… I wouldn’t say he is tired, but he looks a little bit like ‘Okay I kind of had enough at the moment’ and I think it is a natural reaction,” he said. “I can only speak from experience, once I lost a Grand Slam final, the difference between winning a Grand Slam in terms of confidence and losing a final is like night and day. You would think it wouldn’t be that big a difference because you win six matches and you win seven matches [when you win the final].”

He continued by saying: “But to win six matches and lose in the final, it takes you two to three months before you figure out first of all ‘what the hell happened’, second of all ‘I had my chances’ or third, even worse ‘I didn’t have my chances’. I think that’s what Zverev is dealing with [as he might think] ‘I didn’t actually have my chances in that match’. And that is feeling awful right now. Right now [Zverev is thinking] ‘I am not sure I think I can beat any player in the world’. So I think it’s a natural dip in his form and I do think he is going to be back. He is too good a player, he works too hard. I think his confidence against normal players is too high for him to lose early. I think by the time Madrid comes around, which is one of his favourite tournaments on clay, I do think we are going to be talking about Sascha Zverev as one of the contenders at the French Open again.”

Zverev had an impressive outing at Roland Garros last year, where he finished as the runner-up after losing to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the final in a five-set thriller with a score of 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2.