Alexander Zverev Reveals If He Feels Pressure of Winning First Grand Slam Title After Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner’s Roland Garros Exits

Alexander Zverev will be playing the quarterfinals of the French Open for the sixth consecutive time. Runner-up in Paris in 2024, Zverev is now the heavy favorite to finally end his Grand Slam title drought. Sascha overcame a slow start to clinch a straight-set win over Jesper De Jong in the fourth round on Sunday (May 31). Zverev is now the top seed in the draw.

Last week saw Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic‘s exits in the second and third rounds, respectively. The Italian ace was on the verge of a comfortable win, but severe cramps saw him lose the match to Juan Manuel Cerundolo. Djokovic failed to capitalize on his two-set lead against Joao Fonseca.

Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is also not playing as he injured his wrist while competing in Barcelona and will also be skipping Wimbledon.

In their absence, Zverev has gotten a golden opportunity to lift his career’s first Major, but first, he has to knock out rising star Rafael Jodar. Asked at the press conference after his latest win whether he now considers himself the favorite to win, the World No.3 said:

I will give the same answer as two days ago. I will focus solely on the matches ahead of me. That’s the only thing I can control. I concentrated on De Jong, played well, and won. Now I will focus on Jodar and try to deliver another good performance. That’s all I’m concerned about right now.

In the 2024 French Open final, the German lost a five-set battle to Alcaraz. In his career’s first Major at the 2020 US Open, Zverev squandered a two-set lead and lost to Dominic Thiem. Sinner breezed past him in the 2024 Australian Open final.

Alexander Zverev praises Rafael Jodar before their quarterfinal clash

Two teenagers, 19-year-olds Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar, are fighting to script history at Roland Garros. Fonseca, after beating Novak Djokovic, overcame Casper Ruud in four sets, while the Spaniard came from two sets to love to clinch his fourth-round win over compatriot and former World No.10 Pablo Carreno Busta.

Jodar, in fact, is playing in his career’s second Grand Slam tournament. He made his debut at this year’s Australian Open and lost in the second round. Then last month, he clinched his career’s first ATP title at the Grand Prix Hassan II.

Jodar then made the semifinals of the Barcelona Open, quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, and the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. He was ranked outside the top 150 at the start of the season, and thanks to his performances, he stands in the 23rd spot in the live rankings. Alexander Zverev is already expecting a tough match against Jodar.

I think he’s playing amazingly. He started the clay court season outside the top-100, and now he’s close to the top-20. He deserves a lot of credit. I’m really looking forward to facing him for the first time, and I hope it will be a great match. I’ve followed him quite closely during the clay court season.

If he wins the Roland Garros, he will make his top 10 debut. Zverev will continue to stand in the third spot even if he wins Roland Garros.

Here at Roland Garros, I haven’t been able to watch him much because we played on the same days, and the schedules didn’t help. He’s a player who can hit the ball really hard from both sides, which is very special. He’s very aggressive, very young, and has huge talent.

Alexander Zverev added

The winner of the Zverev versus Jodar match will face Fonseca or Jakub Mensik in the semifinals. None of these players have tasted success in the Majors.

Also read: Marta Kostyuk Reveals Painful Split with Mother That Fueled Her Roland Garros Breakthrough