When Alexander Zverev faced reporters following his fourth round loss at the Australian Open he was asked what had gone wrong in his game. He simply replied ‘everything.’
The world No.3 fell in straight sets to Denis Shapovalov who now goes on to play Rafael Nadal. Zverev’s defeat ends his bid to clinch a maiden Grand Slam and his chances of leaving Australia as the new world No.1. An accolade he would have got if he had won the title this year.
However, his game was no match for Shapovalov on Sunday at Melbourne Park. The German struggled behind his second serve by winning just 29% of the points and produced a costly 32 unforced errors against 18 winners. At one point in the match, his anger got the better of him when he destroyed his racket after producing two double faults.
“I was playing bad the whole week. To be honest, I didn’t think I was playing that great. Except against John Millman maybe I had a good match, but the other two matches weren’t great either,” Zverev reflected during his press conference.
“It’s very different also playing during the day and during the night here. I think that didn’t help me in a way, as well. There are no excuses.’
“At the end of the day, I’ve got to do better. I came here with a goal to win, and maybe to become No. 1 and all that. But if I play like that, I don’t deserve it. It’s as simple as that.”
Heavily critical of his latest performance, Zverev said it was ‘one of his worst’ matches since Wimbledon. Although he also praised the efforts of his opponent who has become just the third Canadian man to reach the quarter-finals at the Australian Open. Shapovalov, who is currently ranked 14th in the world, achieved his best Grand Slam result last year by reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
So was Zverev’s defeat purely due to his own form or did Shapovalov bring with him a different game plan compared to their previous matches?
“He was standing back on the returns, which I haven’t seen before. I think he was making a lot more returns,” Zverev acknowledged.
“I give credit to Denis. It’s incredible he’s in the quarters. I think he deserves it. He’s done a lot of work. He’s improved his game. But I’ve got to look at myself, as well. Today was, in my opinion, awful from my side.”
The disappointment for the 24-year-old follows what has been a strong second half of last year where he won gold at the Tokyo Olympics before going on to win a further three Tour titles, including the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
This latest defeat is a reality check for Zverev who gave a somber response when asked about the prospect of potentially challenging for world No.1 over the coming weeks.
“I think after a match like this, it’s very silly to talk about it. I think I need to figure myself out first.” He stated.
