that’s the tennis I want to play – Tennis Now

Alexander Zverev was one win from becoming the first man in history to win his second major title in his first Grand Slam main draw after winning his first. Remarkable, how much he has grown in confidence after ending the long wait for a major title at Roland Garros in June. Gone is the burden that weighed him down. In its place is a belief that he can be a true disruptor at the top of the game. 

His commitment to aggression has paid off, and now that Zverev has seen what it can do for him, he’s planning to keep stepping in and taking his shots. 

“I’ve said it at the beginning of the year, and I’ve stuck to it,” he said. “That’s the tennis I want to play. That’s the game style I want to play. There were matches in the beginning of the year where I was struggling a bit more with this style, but I was consistently doing it.

“The more I do it, the better I’ll become hopefully. I won a Grand Slam for the first time in my career in Paris. I made it to the finals here for the first time in my career. Of course, something has to be working.

“Is it perfect yet? No. But I think we’re going in the right direction with it.”

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Sinner, who stretched his winning streak over the German to ten victories with Sunday’s triumph on Centre Court, agrees. 

“He is a very, very tricky player to play against, because you can have several games where you don’t touch the ball because he’s serving so well,” he said. “Then when he has the ball, now he is trying to make so much damage.”

Chasing Sincaraz

The goal is clear for Zverev. He wants to step up as the player who can threaten the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly at the top of the men’s game. 

It might have sounded crazy prior to Roland Garros, but after watching his intent crystallize into hard-won traction at the Slams, it just might be possible for the 29-year-old. 

“That’s what I’m here to do,” he said. “I think this year, as I said, has been a progress. I think I’ve been pushing those guys. I haven’t beaten them this year, but I’ve pushed them to the limits, I would say.

“Alcaraz in Australia (five sets in the semifinals), Jannik maybe here (in Sunday’s hotly contested final). Even though it was four sets, I think it was a very close four sets, which could have gone five as well.

“That’s the goal. That’s what I’m working on my game for. There was always this conversation about who will be the third guy, the search for the third guy. Kind of the last couple years, I’ve always been the third guy, but I was just far away from those two.

“I’ve always been number three in a way. So if I get closer to them, if I can be in the mix, of course competing and winning the big tournaments with them, alongside them, it would be great.”

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