Alexander Zverev's ATP season ended in the worst possible way. The world No.3 who struggled to deliver his best tennis after reaching the final at the Australian Open earlier this year was unable to qualify for the semifinals at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, a tournament with which he had shown a great feeling in the past.
The German ace had lifted this trophy both in 2018 (at the O2 Arena in London) and in 2021 (the first edition that took place in Turin). He was considered the second huge favorite in the group named after Bjorn Borg behind defending champion Jannik Sinner and had started his run with a fairly convincing victory against Ben Shelton last Sunday.
The champion from Hamburg had also put in a good performance against world number 2 Jannik Sinner, but the 24-year-old Italian had made the difference in the decisive moments by winning in two sets despite his rival having more break points available than him. Sascha needed solid and brilliant tennis to prevail over Canadian ace Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last match of his group, instead he unleashed one of the worst performances of his year and was condemned to a premature elimination.
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Zverev is heartbroken
In his press conference after the match, Alexander did not hide all his disappointment: "I have to be very honest: except for the clash against Sinner at the Paris Masters 1000, where I was injured in my ankle, this was my worst performance in the last month. I am very disappointed at this time. It's not just the defeat that makes me sad, but also my current level."
After his untimely elimination at the Wimbledon Championships this summer, Zverev had asked for help from a legendary coach like Toni Nadal and hoped that the latter would become his coach, but Rafa's uncle has too many commitments and is no longer willing to travel around the world. Sascha will play the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna before starting his off-season.
