Alexander Zverev regrets saying he ‘is not good enough’ to win a major title after losing in the final of the Australian Open last month.
The world No.2 was beaten in straight sets by Jannik Sinner in his most one-sided loss in a Grand Slam final. Zverev is also a former finalist at the US Open in 2020 and the French Open in 2024. In both of those finals, he found himself in winning positions early on before losing to Dominic Thiem and Carlos Alcaraz.
“In Australia, in the final, it was not good enough. I lost in three sets, so that was quite simple,” Zverev told reporters at the Argentina Open earlier this week.
“The other two finals, I lost in five sets. In one of them, I had two sets to love and a break up, serving for the match in the US Open final against Dominic Thiem. That one I regret.
“Against Carlos, I was two sets to one up, so I feel like I had a lot of chances.
“In Australia, I wasn’t good enough in that in that particular day and in that particular moment.”
Outside of the Grand Slams, Zverev has enjoyed various success on the Tour, with 23 titles to his name. He is a two-time ATP Finals champion, winner of the Tokyo Olympic Games and has won seven Masters tournaments. Last season he produced a personal best 69 wins on the Tour and finished the year as the second-highest ranked player in men’s tennis after Sinner.
Now he has had time to digest his loss at Melbourne Park, Zverev says he needs to maintain belief in himself.
“After losing that kind of final and a lot of emotions go through your head, a lot of things go through your head. And sometimes I also say things that I regret,” he explained.
“I kind of regret saying that maybe I’m not good enough. I have to keep believing in myself and believe that I am good enough to win Grand Slams, and I am good enough to become world number one if I keep improving.”
This week, the German is playing at the Argentina Open, where he is one of three top 20 players featuring in the main draw. The other two are Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti. The South American swing of the Tour (also known as the golden swing) takes place on clay ahead of two hardcourt Masters events next month in America. Some tournaments are pondering changing the surface of their events in order to attract more top names.
Regardless of what happens in the future, Zverev insists that it is important that the region maintain its place on the Tour calendar.
“I think it is very important to have tournaments here this kind of clay court swing in South America because it’s the only time where you have professional tournaments in South America,” he said.
“Tennis is a is a global sport. I think tennis is very big in South America, especially in Argentina and Brazil.
“Historically, there have been great players from there. Having tournaments in South America is extremely important for the development of tennis here and for the ATP tour in general.”
Zverev, who was handed a bye in the first round, will begin his campaign in Argentina against Dusan Lajovic.
