Alexander Zverev's season is taking an increasingly negative direction and his performances during the 2025 edition of the Laver Cup which took place at the Chase Center in San Francisco last weekend were very disappointing.
The world No.3 who has gone through so many hardships in recent months was defeated in straight sets by both Australian ace Alex de Minaur and local idol Taylor Fritz, with the American star being decisive for Team World's victory over Team Europe (the third in the last four editions of this competition).
Sascha on his back pain
Sascha looked very far from the top of his shape, showed several signs of nervousness and suffered his sixth defeat in a row against Fritz. The former world number 2 seemed to be heading for a great season after the improvements made at the end of last year, but the defeat against Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final demolished his certainties and plunged him into an ever-deepening crisis.
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The German champion has not been brilliant in any of the other three Major tournaments played in 2025 and not even the help of Toni Nadal has given results so far. As if that were not enough, the star from Hamburg has also felt back pain in recent times and it will not be easy to see him playing at his highest level in the latter part of the season.
During the post-event press conference, Zverev provided some more details about his physical condition: "Fritz has a really dangerous game on this surface and can beat anyone when his confidence is so high. I gave my best and came close to winning a set, but I didn't take advantage of the chances available to me. I couldn't practice for about two weeks after the US Open due to my back injury, I had to do a couple of infiltrations. The situation is under control for the moment, we hope there will be no worsening."
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Sascha will have to defend his title at Paris-Bercy before the end of the year.
