"I expected not to play well this week" - Alexander Zverev punished for producing 'worst match of the season' in dismal display

Day four at the Canadian Open has blown the tournament wide open. Seeds were tumbling left, right and centre with none bigger than the World No.3 Alexander Zverev who was on the end of a surprising defeat to Tallon Griekspoor, being pegged back to lose 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4. Following the match, he did not seen too stunned with the exit or his performance as he misses out on a golden opportunity.

Coming off the back of reaching a first Wimbledon final, Zverev had been one of the standout performers in 2026. The main highlight was his Roland Garros title but a consistent streak of deep runs in the Grand Slam and Masters 1000 events saw him briefly usurp Carlos Alcaraz as World No.2 and cemented his spot above the rest of the field.

However, he has not tasted success at this level since the 2024 Paris Masters, and the wait for a seventh Masters 1000 title prolongs with it not coming at this year's Canadian Open. With no Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic, Zverev was the huge favourite for glory, similar to the campaign in Paris.

Other big names being dumped out around him were supposed to be helping his cause, but that would not be the case with him joining this trend as Grieskpoor picked up an eighth top 10 win, and a first since his final run in Dubai.

Zverev's last match came in that Wimbledon final defeat against Sinner on July 12, almost a month ago. He had plenty of time to rest and recuperate ahead of the North American hardcourt swing with the stats backing up his case for a fast start.

Having not lost his opening match at the tournament since 2016, the 2017 champion also had a 9-2 win record over his Dutch opponent. Seemingly, those were meaningless when he stepped onto the court, not producing his best game and suffering the consequences.

He offered some insight into why that was after the contest. “I expected not to play well this week,” he said. “I played very well the last couple of months; I took a little bit of time off. And I practiced then, but it’s tough competition.”

Not since Wimbledon 2025 had Zverev suffered a defeat at the first hurdle of an ATP event. “I didn’t expect to play well. I also didn’t expect to play this bad, to be honest,” he continued.

“I think this was probably the worst match of the season that I’ve had this year. I didn’t have many bad matches, but this one was up there as the worst. But that’s okay. It’s a process. Tennis comes with ups and downs. I’m very happy with how the last couple of months were. Now it’s about getting back to that form.”

A number of points will come off the German's tally following his failure to defend the semi-final from last year. Alcaraz will take back second position for now, but the Spaniard has 3,000 points to defend in the coming weeks. Zverev may sense his chance if the seven-time Grand Slam champion is firing on all cylinders for the rest of the North American hardcourt swing to take that spot back, but in reality his overall aim is for the top spot.

This tournament shows that he is still not getting any closer to Sinner, who decided to prioritise his health and focus on the upcoming tournaments instead of making the trip to Montreal. Zverev will now be forced to watch on the rest of the tournament along with a number of top 10 players.

Only Alex de Minaur and reigning champion Ben Shelton remain. Just four of the top 10 seeds are still within a chance of snatching glory, leaving this title there for the taking. Felix Auger-Aliassime was forced to withdraw from his home event with Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev also exiting last night.