Alexander Zverev Reveals his Preferred Surface Against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Alexander Zverev is now eight matches unbeaten in Grand Slams this season. The German star continued his confident display at the Wimbledon Championships, winning his opening match at the All England Club. However, he’s not convinced he can beat the top players in the men’s circuit, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, on grass.

The grass court has been one of the surfaces on which Zverev has struggled to be at his best. Although he has shown signs of confident performances, he’s yet to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. Last year, he crashed out of the opening round of the grass-court Grand Slam after losing to Arthur Rinderknech.

Nonetheless, one of Zverev’s major challenges for the past two years has been how to defeat Sinner and Alcaraz. Though he defeated Alcaraz at the ATP Finals in 2024, he has never come close to overcoming the Spaniard on the court. This season already, Alcaraz defeated him in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and Sinner in the Madrid Open final.

It is believed that Zverev was lucky not to have faced Sinner or Alcaraz at the French Open. The 29-year-old won Roland Garros without facing any top-5 player en route to the title in Paris. Sinner and Novak Djokovic had crashed out early in the tournament, while Alcaraz didn’t compete due to an injury.

Zverev is projected to face Sinner in the final of Wimbledon; however, before that, he will face other top players on the circuit. After beating Alexander Blockx in his opening match at the All England Club, he admitted that the best surface to beat Sinner or Alcaraz will be on a fast hard court:

I would choose a fast hard court. I think against the best, including Carlos, including Jannik… Well, it would be very difficult against Jannik on a fast hard court. It depends on who I’m playing, to be honest. If it’s Carlos, definitely a fast hard court. If it’s Jannik, maybe clay, even though he has beaten me twice this year.

Zverev reached the semi-finals of the Terra Wortmann Open before arriving for Wimbledon. He has not won any title on grass despite winning over 20 tour-level trophies in his career. Also, he holds a good 48-24 record on grass, which is a 66.7% win rate, making him one of the most successful active players on the surface without a title.

Roland Garros champion Alexander Zverev expects a different outcome at Wimbledon

Alexander Zverev ended his long wait for a major title at Roland Garros, where he defeated Flavio Cobolli in five sets. The World No.3 became the first German since Boris Becker in 1996 to win a Grand Slam. He continued with that momentum, beating Alexander Blockx 6-4, 6(8)-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(0) to seal his place in the second round of Wimbledon.

It wasn’t Zverev’s best performance on grass this season, but it was certainly better than his display against Arthur Rinderknech last year. During the aforementioned press conference, the 29-year-old admitted that Wimbledon will be completely different from Roland Garros, which he won a few weeks ago:

Honestly, for me, it’s very different from Roland Garros… its about getting through my matches because maybe names like Jannik and Novak and all those players are in the other half of the draw, but for me, it doesn’t matter, historically I haven’t had to face them. It’s about focusing on the matches ahead to reach those names; I think that’s the most important thing.

Zverev will face Valentin Royer in the second round of Wimbledon. The German has the opportunity to become the World No.2 by reaching the final of the grass-court tournament. However, he will need to first beat Royer, who defeated British wild card Harry Wendelken 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round.

Also Read: Jannik Sinner Believes to Have Erased Roland Garros Doubts After Gutsy Wimbledon First-Round Win