A surfaced comment reveals Alexander Zverev didn't sugarcoat anything when speaking with German reporters following his disappointing ATP Finals exit as the world No. 3 admitted that he simply "did not play well enough" to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime.
After struggling mightily with his form during the spring and picking up multiple early exits, Zverev started to rediscover his mojo in the second part of 2025 and made two finals, as well as four more semifinals. In his two indoor tournaments played leading up to the ATP Finals, the German tennis star finished as runner-up in Vienna and made the Paris Masters semifinal.
But despite arriving in Turin in fine form and even beating Ben Shelton in his opening match, Zverev still went on to have a disappointing run after he picked up back-to-back losses to Jannik Sinner and Auger-Aliassime, and failed to make it past the group stage.
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The match against Auger-Aliassime was a direct battle for the second semifinal spot from their group. It ended up being a very tight contest, in which only a few points decided the winner - the key was the Canadian claiming the only break of the match and also saving all four of the German's break points.
Zverev: No need to mince words, I didn't play well enough and that's a fact
"I felt that I had been playing really good tennis again over the last few months and had built up really well, but today I simply didn't take my chances at all in the first set and then the set just kind of slipped away from me. And then I just didn't play well enough. There's no need to mince words. That's just a fact. I didn't play the tennis I needed to play today," the 28-year-old told German reporters.
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While speaking with reporters in English, 2025 Australian Open runner-up Zverev declared his 2025 season "incredibly insatisfying." The German's major goal remains winning a Grand Slam and reaching the world No. 1 spot.
