Zverev believes Alcaraz took full advantage with US Open win: "Novak wasn't there, Rafa wasn't at 100%, so he took his chance"

Alexander Zverev thinks Carlos Alcaraz benefitted greatly from Djokovic not playing at the US Open and Nadal not being 100 % for his maiden grand slam win.

It's a chance that Zverev had as well with Djokovic being defaulted from the 2020 US Open and Nadal not being there. The German made his way to the final, led 2-0 against Thiem but failed to win the match as the Austrian won three straight sets for the win. Alcaraz used his chance as he proved better than Ruud in the final:

"It's not really surprising. I played against him for the first time in Acapulco in 2021. I already said: 'He's going to be crazy, he's going to be an incredible player.' To be honest he is too. There were a lot of factors at play, Novak wasn't at the US Open, Rafa maybe wasn't at 100 percent."

Zverev added:

"Daniil after his back injury and surgery wasn't quite where he was either last year with his tennis. So he took his chance. Hats off! He was the best player in New York. He proved that cold.

Zverev also touched upon Alcaraz being number one with fewer points than the German had one year before when he was 3rd noting that it's been simply a weird tennis year but he earned it.