Signs Point Towards A Zverev Slam Breakthrough

Alexander Zverev finished 2018 in the best form possible, defeating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal en route to his first Nitto ATP Finals title, the biggest victory of his career. The German had claimed three ATP Masters 1000 titles, and climbed as high as No. 3 in the ATP Rankings. But this was a special performance that no one will soon forget.

Zverev will now hope that such a tremendous victory will serve as a springboard to major success. According to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, Zverev was one of the best performers on the ATP Tour at the Grand Slams in 2018, but he still has room to grow. Last year, Zverev was tied for 11th on the ATP Tour with a 10-4 record at the majors, equating to a 71.4 winning percentage.

At 2018 Roland Garros, the German became the eighth player in the Open Era to battle through three consecutive five-setters in Paris, and the first to do so since Tommy Robredo in 2013. He lost to eventual finalist Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals. But after his win at The O2, he is ready to take another step forward.

“I don’t think I struggled during the Slams. I think there’s been a few unlucky moments for me… I’ve done really well at the French, then I got injured. I don’t know how far I could have gone,” Zverev said after triumphing in London. “The other Grand Slams, I played against a very good [Hyeon] Chung in the Australian Open, which I lost a five-set match. Wimbledon I was not prepared to play because of the injury that happened in the French. US Open I had a bad match. These things happen. It’s fine.”

Another reason for optimism is that of Zverev’s 14 career Grand Slam losses, he has fallen after winning two of the first three sets just three times, with those defeats coming at the hands of Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic and Chung. Nadal and Raonic would go on to reach the final of the 2017 Australian Open and 2017 Wimbledon, respectively, while Chung broke through to last year’s semi-finals in Melbourne.

So it’s not as if Zverev has consistently lost advantages because of the extended best-of-five-set format at Grand Slams. And when the German has let slip leads, it has been against players who have advanced deep into the event.

To further his efforts to get over the proverbial ‘hump’, Zverev hired former World No. 1 Ivan Lendl ahead of the US Open. Lendl knows what Zverev is going through, as he reached four Slam finals before finally winning his first of eight major trophies at Roland Garros in 1984. So while their partnership didn’t yield immediate results in Flushing Meadows — Zverev lost in the third round to veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber — the German believes it might help him take the next step.

“He said that it’s a process of getting there. It’s a process of playing well at Slams,” Zverev said. “He told me before the tournament started that, Hopefully you’ll do very well at the US Open, but we’re more looking towards next year.”

One legend who is not concerned about Zverev’s results at past Slams is former World No. 1 Boris Becker, who first met the 21-year-old when Zverev was just 10.

“He played the past two years, apart from the Grand Slams [at a high level]. You wait as a young player to take the next step at the biggest of tournaments and at the Grand Slams, unfortunately, he hasn’t made a semi-final yet. But I think the way he performed throughout the whole week against the very best in tennis, looked to be very promising for 2019,” Becker told ATPTour.com after Zverev’s run at the Nitto ATP Finals. “It starts with yourself. If you gain a bit of confidence, if you start beating the best tennis players in the world day after day, you deep down start to believe that you really belong there. That’s why I think it was a big breakthrough.”

The Grand Slam Leaders
It’s no surprise that Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Nos. 1-3 in the ATP Rankings, had the best results at the majors in 2018. Djokovic, who triumphed at Wimbledon and the US Open, earned a 21-2 record, while Roland Garros champion Nadal was 21-3, and Australian Open winner Federer was 14-2 (Federer did not compete at Roland Garros).

Those three players will be the Top 3 seeds in Melbourne, just like they were as far back as 11 years ago, when Djokovic claimed his first Grand Slam title.

The trio’s success at the Slams also extends well beyond 2018, as Nadal (87.3%), Federer (86.3%) and Djokovic (86.3%) are all inside the Top 4 in career winning percentage at the majors during the Open Era, trailing only Bjorn Borg (89.8%).

Top 4 Grand Slam Performers In Open Era