"You don’t open up when you’re eliminated in first round": Boris Becker responds to Alexander Zverev's public mental health admission

Boris Becker has offered advice to his "sporting adopted son" Alexander Zverev following the three-time Grand Slam runner-up's mental health revelations. For a good part of the year, Zverev has been struggling with inconsistency and several adverse results, making it evident that he hasn't been having a good time on court for a while.

His first-round exit at Wimbledon only deepened this period of crisis, during which the German has lost ground to the Tour's dominant players, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, and is far from competing with them in major tournaments. This defeat marked his first first-round Grand Slam loss in six years.

Zverev had started the year in great form, reaching the Australian Open final—his third major final. However, he couldn't overcome world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who successfully defended his title.

After it was announced that Sinner would be out of the Tour for three months, possibilities opened up for Zverev to chase the world No. 1 ranking in upcoming tournaments, especially with four Masters 1000 events ahead without the Italian's presence. At that point, Alcaraz also lacked much consistency, and it seemed that whoever performed best during Sinner's absence could potentially displace Sinner.

Zverev quickly headed to the South American "Golden Swing" in search of points and more wins. He arrived as a big favorite but suffered early defeats at the Rio Open and Argentina Open, losing the chance to add good points when Alcaraz was also out of competition.

The following months haven't been ideal. He only has a 7-5 record in Masters 1000 tournaments this season, which are disappointing results for Zverev, who holds seven titles in this category. Several early losses in lower-tier tournaments and a painful exit in the French Open quarterfinals lead many to doubt whether Zverev will ever truly win a major title or reach world No. 1, although Boris Becker maintains his faith in his compatriot.

Mental health issues have been addressed by several top stars, including Iga Swiatek, Andrey Rublev, and Naomi Osaka. The most recent to join them was Zverev, who admitted that he has been struggling both on and off the court in recent months.

"I’ve never felt this empty before," commented Zverev after being eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon a few weeks ago against Arthur Rinderknech. "Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well."

"Even when I’m winning, even when I’m winning like in Stuttgart or Halle, it’s not necessarily, like, a feeling that I used to get where I was happy, over the moon, I felt motivated to keep going. It’s just not there right now for me, which, again, is the first time in my life which I’m feeling.”

Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker has countless times defended Zverev, and even though Sascha isn't at his best, the former world No. 1 remains hopeful that he will regain confidence and be able to dethrone Sinner and Alcaraz. However, for that to happen, he advised the 27-year-old tennis player to maintain a lower profile regarding aspects such as mental health. "Alexander Zverev is a kind of sporting adopted son for me; I have a lot of empathy for him."

"If I had been his coach, I would have advised him not to reveal such information about his mental state at the Wimbledon press conference. Ideally, you don’t open up when you’re eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament."

“It was perhaps the revelation he needed. I am convinced that he will win his Grand Slam and that he can become number one at some point,” the German four-time Wimbledon champion added. “Becoming number one is difficult, but staying number one is the most difficult thing in the world.”

Zverev was training this week in Mallorca, Spain, at the Rafa Nadal Academy, where he joined Toni Nadal – Rafa's former coach – sparking speculation about a potential association with the historic Spanish coach. However, "Uncle Toni" himself recently confirmed that it was only a temporary association during this transition period and that they will not be working together. Zverev is preparing for the Canadian Open, which starts on July 27th, and in which he will be the first seed.