“I don’t even watch Zverev anymore”: Adriano Panatta questions German’s consistency after Rome exit

Legendary Adriano Panatta blasted Alexander Zverev following his heavy defeat in the Rome Open round of 16. The German—two-time Rome Open champion—was eliminated early after a loss to Luciano Darderi, in which the Italian delivered a bagel in an otherwise relatively competitive third set from Sascha.

With Carlos Alcaraz currently out of competition due to injury, there are not many names that appear as clear candidates to challenge Jannik Sinner’s dominance at Grand Slam level. With just over a week before the start of Roland Garros, Zverev arrives in a complicated moment ahead of his favourite Grand Slam.

The gap between Sinner and the rest of the field continues to widen in recent weeks, and Zverev once again appears a step behind. The defeat to Darderi exposed Zverev’s vulnerability against lower-ranked opponents such as Darderi—currently world No. 20.

“I saw the highlights. I don’t even watch Zverev anymore by principle; he bores me,” commented Panatta on the La Telefonata podcast alongside fellow Italian legend Paolo Bertolucci. “I know what he does. We’ve all won the first set and lost the second with four match points, but it’s not like nobody plays the third. He throws tantrums like a child. Darderi did well.”

Zverev had already left a questionable impression after his defeat in the Madrid Open final against Sinner. Despite a solid run up to that point, he was unable to compete in the final against Sinner, which ended in just over an hour, with Zverev winning only three games in the match.

He arrived in Rome hoping to bounce back. However, he ended up losing a match that appeared practically won. The world No. 3 was leading 6-1, 5-3—and later wasted up to four match points before Darderi completed the comeback: 1-6, 6-7, 0-6.

“He did some things against Luciano Darderi. Of course, it’s normal not to close match points, but he didn’t even play the third set. He flew away,” said Bertolucci to his colleague.

“Doesn’t that make you think that the level in that ranking is very fragile? Rublev is perfect for Sinner because he trains him,” added Panatta regarding Sinner’s quarter-final matchup against the 27-year-old Russian.

Sinner ultimately dismantled Rublev in straight sets, winning 6-2, 6-4, to set up a semi-final clash with Medvedev. There, rain interrupted the match in the middle of the third set, with Sinner leading 4-2 with a break advantage over the former world No. 1.

Zverev is now focusing his energy on preparing for Roland Garros, particularly after his early exit in Rome forced a revision of his schedule. The German had also encountered issues in recent days regarding his participation at his home tournament, the Hamburg Open, where he was originally set to be the top seed in an event scheduled to begin on Monday.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist will ultimately skip any further clay-court tournaments and travel directly to Paris to prepare for the second major of the season. Zverev is expected to arrive in France without additional match play on the surface, a decision that effectively ends his clay swing following the Rome defeat.

He will enter Roland Garros as the second seed due to Carlos Alcaraz’s absence, meaning he could only meet Jannik Sinner in a potential final.