“It’s a prestige event,” Alexander Zverev praises the ATP Finals format recalling how he won the title twice despite losing to Djokovic and Medvedev in the group stage

Alexander Zverev won the ATP Finals in 2018 and 2021.

“It’s a prestige event,” Alexander Zverev praises the ATP Finals format recalling how he won the title twice despite losing to Djokovic and Medvedev in the group stage

Alexander Zverev (Image via Eurosport)

Former World No. 2 Alexander Zverev recently called the ATP Finals a prestige event. He highly appreciated the season-ender’s format, as he remembered his two titles at the event. Both times, he had lost to Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the group stages. Despite this falter, the German was able to bag the title on both occasions.

Zverev is the only active player apart from Djokovic to have won the title at the ATP Finals more than once. Such was the level of tennis the German was playing before his injury at the 2022 Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal. This forced him out of the tour just when he was in his best form. Nevertheless, he made a good comeback in 2023, winning two ATP-level titles. 2023 saw the first time the German had title-winning campaigns since his 2021 ATP Finals campaign.

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Other tournaments, if I would have lost to Novak or Daniil, I would have been out, but there I came back and became a two-time champion.
 Zverev told the ATP Tennis Podcast

The ATP Finals follows a round-robin format, where the top eight players are split into two groups. The top two from each group will move on to the semi-final. This format makes it possible for a player to win the title, even if they lose a round-robin match. The ATP Finals is one of the only few tournaments to follow this format.

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It's a prestige event, an honor itself just to be there, and I will never take it for granted.

The German made it clear that the event was of utmost importance to him. He has a great track record at the season-ender. The Olympic gold medalist has won the title two out of the five times he has qualified. This statistic gives the German a slight edge over the newcomers this year.

Alexander Zverev talks about his struggles with injury in the first half of the season

The former World No. 2 was playing his best game in the 2022 season. He was close to defeating ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal on his turf, the French Open.

However, all this came to an end when he fell on the court clutching his ankle. The German had ripped the ligaments in his ankle during the match. This dismissed him not only from the Roland Garros but the rest of the season as well.

Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev (Images via Sporting News and The Japan Times)

If the German had managed to dethrone Nadal and win the title, he would have become the World No.1 player for the first time. With this goal so close in reach, his injury came as a disappointment, not only to him but to his fans as well. 

I think at the beginning of the year, I was still managing the pain, I was still dealing with pain.

He admitted that he was not moving on the court like he wanted to. His motion was not as fluid as he wanted it to be. Nevertheless, Zverev managed to find his footing. It was only a matter of time before he won two ATP titles and eventually qualified for the ATP Finals, where he holds two titles.

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