Alexander Zverev says players being very tired and maybe losing motivation a bit late in the season can definitely happen but underlines that no one arrives at the ATP Finals feeling unmotivated.
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On Sunday, the German tennis star lifted his first Paris title and seventh Masters main glory after annihilating French home favorite Ugo Humbert 6-2 6-2. The week before Paris, the new world No. 2 played at the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna, where he was a quarterfinalist. In total, the 27-year-old played eight matches in the last two weeks and now has a 66-20 record in 2024.
Following a great week at Bercy, Zverev is guaranteed to arrive at the ATP Finals in good form. But he has competed in nearly 90 matches so far this season and the reporters were curious to know if he was mentally or physically tired ahead of the season-ending tournament that is slated to take place in Turin between November 10-17.
"I think for Turin, everybody becomes motivated. It's such a special tournament. It's such a special atmosphere and feeling when you're there and only eight players in the world are there. So you feel special already playing there, so I think everybody is motivated. Everybody wants to win this title and play good tennis. So I think that's not the case," Zverev said.
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"I think the later tournaments in the season, which are normal tournaments, there maybe some players are a bit more tired, maybe lacking motivation a bit, but I think in Turin, once you made that tournament, I mean, you're fighting all year to make the cut there, right? So I think once you're there, you're going to give it your best, and everybody else will, as well. At the end of the day, you're only playing the best eight players in the world. So there is no easy matches, and you have to play your best tennis from the first match on."
So far, six players have secured their spots in Turin - Zverev, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic, while Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev are still battling for the remaining two spots. Here, it should be noted that Djokovic skipped Paris and that it is being heavily rumored that he also won't play at the ATP Finals.
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When it comes to the German, he has made six appearances at the season-ending tournament and has two titles after making it all the way at the event in 2018 and 2021.
Zverev on if he needs to make some adjustments to his schedule
The top players across the ATP and WTA Tours speaking out against the tight schedule has become a common occurrence. And often, players suggest that they simply must make certain adjustments because playing in every tournament would tarnish their chances of doing well when it matters the most - at the Grand Slam level.
Zverev, who will turn 28 in April, is a two-time Grand Slam finalist and has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the world. But it is not a secret that becoming a Slam winner and reaching the top spot are his two ultimate goals.
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During his post-final presser in Paris, the German was asked if he thought that limiting his number of tournaments could potentially help him win a Major in 2025. But the world No. 2 was quick to shut that down because he feels his schedule is not a problem.
"Do I? I don't know. I think every player is different. Every player has his own way. For me, I mean, I played all the Masters events, which I will play next year, as well, for sure. I think they are the biggest tournaments that the ATP has. I will hopefully play all the Grand Slams," Zverev said.
"Then, you know, there is not that many tournaments that I played, actually. There is only very selective tournaments that I played. Of course with the Olympics this year, two tournaments came along which were more, Hamburg and Olympics. But apart from that, I didn't play that extremely much. After the Australian Open, I took a month off. I only played two tournaments in Mexico before the Masters events.
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"Then on clay, I played only Munich outside of Masters events. It's not like I'm playing every single week and I'm chasing points. On grass I played one tournament before Wimbledon. After the US Open, I played only Shanghai, Vienna, and here. It's not like I'm playing every single week. I have won a lot of matches, which is beneficial. Everybody wants to win a lot of matches, but I wouldn't say I played a lot of tournaments this year."
After losing in the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem, Zverev also fell short to Carlos Alcaraz in this year's French Open final.
