Naomi Osaka Gives Key Suggestion for Alexander Zverev to Battle his Mental Struggles
Third seed Alexander Zverev lost to World No. 72 Arthur Rinderknech in the opening round of the Wimbledon Championships.
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Naomi Osaka (in circle, image via WTA), Alexander Zverev (image via Roland Garros)
After a shocking opening round exit at Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev opened up about the mental health struggles he had been facing since the Australian Open. The German lost his third Grand Slam final to Jannik Sinner in Melbourne, and since then has struggled to find his form albeit reaching two more finals, winning one of them.
At the Wimbledon Championships, the third seed lost to World No. 72 Arthur Rinderknech in a tough five set battle. This marked Rinderknech’s first Top 5 win on tour. Zverev has spoken about feeling lonely, lacking joy outside of tennis and has considered that he may seek therapy. Several other players have been asked about Zverev and his mental health struggles. Naomi Osaka gave her suggestions to this very sensitive issue:
I don’t know if I’m the type of person who should be giving advice, it’s very difficult to make a statement on this topic. Usually, I have to think about it for hours, I guess it depends on each moment in life, although everything is temporary…
Former World No. 1 Osaka secured a spot in the third round at Wimbledon after a straight set victory over Katerina Siniakova, a ten-time Grand Slam doubles champion. She won back-to-back matches at SW19 for the first time since 2018.
I don’t know, life is serious and it’s not at the same time. If you don’t enjoy something that much, you can always do something else. I’m not saying he should stop playing tennis, I’m sure many people want him to continue playing, but I don’t know. I always think people should do what makes them happy, whatever happens.
Rinderknech made it to the third round at Wimbledon after another five-set battle defeating Cristian Garin. It marked the first time that the 29-year-old made it to the third round of the tournament. He then met Kamil Majchrzak in the third round, but was beaten in straight sets.
Alexander Zverev among record-breaking 13 seeded first round exits at Wimbledon
This year’s Wimbledon Championships has seen an extraordinary number of opening round upsets. A record-breaking 13 seeded players crashed out in the men’s first round. The 13 losses equals the record set of any Grand Slam at the 2004 Australian Open. Wimbledon’s previous record for men’s first-round seeded exits was 11, occurring in 2001, 2003, 2018, and 2021.
Alexander Zverev is the highest seeded player in the men’s draw to fall in the opening round. 2024 semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, and Daniil Medvedev are the other top 10 seeded players to fall. Other notable men’s seeds who faced an opening round exit include the likes of Francisco Cerundolo, Ugo Humbert, Alexei Popyrin, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Bublik, Alex Michelsen, Tallon Griekspoor, and 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini.
The women’s draw also featured some shocking early exits. With second seed Coco Gauff and third seed Jessica Pegula losing in the opening round of Wimbledon, this marks the first time in the Open Era that two of the top three seeds lost in the first round of a Grand Slam.
Following Qinwen Zheng‘s opening round exit and a major upset to last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the second round, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is the only top-five seeded player left in the women’s draw. This marks the second time in the Open Era after Wimbledon 2018, that only one of the top-five seeded players has made it to the third round in a Women’s Singles Grand Slam event.
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