French Open: “Other competition”: Paris makes Zverev better

Crisis? Which crisis? With his favorite Grand Slam, Alexander Zverev simply leaves the disappointments of the recent past behind. “I am in Paris. Nobody is interested in the past few weeks,” said Zverev after his confident move into the round of 16 of the French Open. “Paris is a completely different competition. You can’t compare Paris with the weeks before.”

In the period before the second Grand Slam tournament of the tennis year, Zverev stumbled through the season. Unexpectedly early defeats in Madrid and Rome, a health setback at his home tournament in Hamburg – when Zverev arrived in the Stade of Roland Garros ten days ago, hardly anyone had him as a favorite. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic – these were the names called when it came to the Paris Champion 2025.

Zverev masters the first endurance test

Zverev was not wrong. So the world ranking in third was able to work in peace and quiet on its health and sporting form. The first opponents Learner Tien (USA) and Jesper de Jong (Netherlands) were not a indicator for the previous year’s finalists. Only the Italian Flavio Cobolli was a first small hardest test in the third round – the Zverev mastered with flying colors.

The 28-year-old prevailed against the Hamburg champion on the Court Philippe-Chatrier in three sets and saved important strength when the weather was mandatory. “I would not have expected that before the match,” said Tennis legend Becker at Eurosport after the safe move-in to the round of 16, where the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor is waiting this Monday.

Against Griekspoor Zverev also played in Paris last year and only won the duel in the tie -break of the fifth set. “They are always interesting, crazy matches against him,” said Zverev, who recently won on the way to the title in Munich against the Dutch after a hard fight. “When I play my tennis, it will most likely be better than his,” Zverev said in a row before his eighth Paris round of 16.

It is a positive sign that the self -doubt and the dissatisfaction of the past few weeks are gone. After all, only top opponents are now waiting for Zverev on the way to the longed first Grand Slam title. In the quarter-finals it could be a duel with a record grand slam champion Novak Djokovic, who introduced its 99th victory in the Stade of Roland Garros late Saturday evening.

In the semifinals it would probably be against Jannik Sinner, who has so far chased through the tournament as if his three -month doping lock had never existed. And defending champion Carlos Alcaraz? It is located in the other half of the tournament and unchallenged on the way to the final.

“Anyone who could be dangerous to him are in the other half of the tournament. We will fight it and he will have fun watching it,” said Zverev, always in the semi -finals in the past four years, about the Spaniard, whom he had to give up in five sets in the final in 2024.