Alexander Zverev takes hard lessons from South American swing disappointment as he aims to win this Grand Slam

Alexander Zverev failed to win either the Argentina Open or Rio Open despite being the only Top 5 player in the draws.

Alexander Zverev takes hard lessons from South American swing disappointment as he aims to win this Grand Slam

Alexander Zverev (Image via X)

Following Jannik Sinner’s three-month suspension from professional tennis, Alexander Zverev looked to secure the World No.1 position. The German had just played the Australian Open, where he finished as runners-up to Sinner and was in good form. But, his prospect of being at the top of the ATP rankings has failed to materialize.

The German embarked on a South American clay swing for the first time, neglecting the Middle East hard courts. Perhaps it would have been much easier to win there than in the Middle East considering he was the only top-five player in the draws. However, at the Argentina Open, he lost to Francisco Cerundolo in the quarter-finals.

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He then exited the Rio Open in the quarter-finals after losing to another Argentine, Francisco Comesana, in three sets. The World No.2 then featured in the Acapulco Open hard court where he suffered his most disappointing defeat. He lost to an American teenager, Learner Tien, in straight sets.

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The 27-year-old is currently in Indian Wells ahead of his opening match. He’s determined to get back to winning ways as he aims to prepare himself ahead of the Roland Garros. The German has revealed his tactics to win the Clay court Grand Slam title.

Maybe it wasn’t the right choice in the end, especially after reaching the Australian Open final, maybe I should have stayed on hard courts a bit longer, but I wanted to play on clay and find my game as soon as possible. If you look at my record, I can play well on clay, no doubt, but usually, the first two or three weeks, I play badly and lose to… I mean, I don’t win tournaments. I don’t play great tennis. I wanted to get that over with, find my rhythm on that surface, and prepare better for Roland Garros.

Alexander Zverev said at the Media Day

Zverev has been to three Grand Slam finals but has failed to win any of them. The German star reached the Roland Garros final last year but eventually lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets.

Alexander Zverev says he doesn’t have any issues transitioning from clay to hard court

One of the major reasons several top players don’t feature at the Argentina and Rio Open is because of the difficult transition from hard to clay. The season always Open with hard fast courts before the clay swing in April, but only the South American tournaments host on clay. Alexander Zverev, who competed there struggled to play his best.

Alexander Zverev (via X)

He was asked in the aforementioned press conference, whether the defeats in the South American swing will affect his game in Indian Wells. The German star revealed that he’s good at transitioning.

The transition is good. It’s not so difficult for me. It was really about feeling good. I still feel positive. I still think I’ve had a good start to the season. If you look at Australia, I reached another Grand Slam final, but of course, I want to find my rhythm again and I want to start winning tennis matches.

Alexander Zverev said

Zverev will play Tallon Griekspoor in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters. The World No.2 is hoping to win his first title of the season there.