Tennis: Without answers: Zverev also fails in Indian Wells

Alexander Zverev did not find any answers. Not on the pitch at the next opening defeat as a top player and not afterwards in conversation with the journalists. As himself, they wanted to understand what went wrong since the final defeat at the Australian Open. “I have no answers at the moment. I have no idea to be honest,” said number two in the tennis world rankings after 6: 4, 6: 7 (5: 7), 6: 7 (4: 7) against the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor in Indian Wells. He does not feel anger or frustration, but: “Sadness.”

Zverev turns 28 in April and has never won a Grand Slam. He is the Olympic champion, he won the ATP finals, he was the first German since Tommy Haas he is number two in the world. At the very big goal, however, he has failed on every opportunity: in the final of the US Open he lost in 2020 Dominic Thiem from Austria. In 2024 Carlos Alcaraz was the winner of the final at the French Open, at the beginning of the year Zverev lost in the final of the Australian Open against Jannik Sinner from Italy.

Zverev was number one in the tournament on paper

Not much has been going together at Zverev since then. He was favorite on paper on paper at the hard court tournament in Indian Wells, which was endowed with $ 13 million, but already came to California with a number of disappointments. Since the final defeat in Melbourne, he took part in three smaller tournaments in Central and South America and never got beyond the quarter-finals. “I don’t play at the level at which I want to play and certainly not at the level of Australia,” said Zverev. “At the end of the day I just don’t play a good tennis right now. It’s that simple.”

Zverev loses four of the eight games since the Australian Open

Griekspoor, currently number 46 in the world rankings, used his sixth matchball after 3:07 hours. “I lost five times against him last year, they were all tight and I always had my chances. It cost a lot of work,” said Griekspoor later. Yes, Zverev fended off five match balls. However, in the third set, the Olympic champion had a much more common impact on the defensive than the Dutch and only reacted when whose sharp balls came back and back.

Of the eight games since the final defeat in Melbourne, Zverev has now lost four – all against players who are far behind him and shouldn’t really cause him such big problems. His goal of detaching the Sinner, which was blocked due to doping at the top of the world rankings, is moving away.

Number one in the world? “I have to find my game again”

In the beginning, immediately after the lock for Sinner became known, he had dealt with the chance to become number one in the world, said Zverev. “Now less because I just play terrible,” said the Olympic champion. “I have to find my game again before I can think about it – because you have to win tournaments to become number one in the world. And I don’t get beyond the first or second round at the moment.” It continues in Miami in two weeks.

Zverev was then asked what he had to work on. “Something of everything. I’ve been doing pretty badly in the past few weeks. My second serve is okay, but my first is terrible. I don’t play great from the baseline,” said the Hamburger. And then concluded: “It is up to everything.”