Alexander Zverev says winning a match doesn't necessarily mean that everything worked perfectly that day and that's one of the reasons why he has the habit of practicing after matches.
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On Wednesday, the German tennis star saw off three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud 7-6 (3) 6-3 at the ATP Finals. Now, the world No. 2 owns a 2-0 record in his group and has a semifinal place booked. Previously, he beat Andrey Rublev also in two sets in his Turin opener.
Even though so far, so perfect has been the story for Zverev, he stayed for a post-match practice after beating the Norwegian. But this wasn't anything new, knowing that he has been doing it throughout the season.
This time, the 27-year-old wanted to hit some returns on the practice court.
"Today was about the return only. I feel like Casper has been serving extremely well, but I thought I could return better. That was today. In general, as I said in Paris, it's not about today, it's not about tomorrow, it's not about the next match. I want to improve a few things for the next season already. I want to develop my game further so I can compete with Jannik and Carlos. As simple as that. They're the two benchmarks right now. They're the ones that are winning Grand Slams. I want to be part of that group. I know they're going to improve, so I have to keep up," Zverev explained.
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In the first set, not a single break point was seen. But in the tie-break, the German claimed a mini-break in the first point and went on to win the tie-break with three points lost.
While this year's French Open runner-up managed to deliver on Ruud's serve in the tie-break, he still wasn't managing to create break point chances for a good portion of the second set. But then in the eighth game - the world No. 2 earned the first break point of the match - and realized it to go 5-3 up before serving out for the match in the following game.
Zverev now set for a blockbuster match; explains the lack of three-setters in Turin
After kicking off his ATP Finals campaign with back-to-back straight-set wins, the 27-year-old is now set for his toughest test yet as he plays next against Carlos Alcaraz.
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In the opening four days of the season-ending tournament, eight matches took place and neither went to the distance. While the stat itself is surprising, the fact that it's the best eight players competing makes it even more stunning.
Asked about it, Zverev started by explaining that he felt some matches should have three sets but it just didn't happen because of certain circumstances. Then, he proceeded to make a very reasonable point - he explained that top players have the ability to make adjustments and mentioned his and Alcaraz's matchup as an example. At times, the German thought that he dominated the Spaniard but also admitted that there were matches when he felt inferior to the current world No. 3.
"Last year I think there were a bunch of three-set matches. It was super exciting, super close. This is how tennis is. You cannot predict the future. You cannot have every year the same results, expect it's going to be 7-6 in the third every time you play someone. I've played guys, for example Carlos even this year, I've played him where we had incredible battles, like the French Open final. Then I've played him at the Australian Open in the quarters where I feel like I dominated him completely. Then I played him in Indian Wells where he dominated me completely," Zverev said.
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"If you're playing against the best players in the world, doesn't necessarily mean you always are going to get tight matches just because it's the best players in the world. Sometimes it depends on how they feel, their form. If they're at their best, yes, you're going to get tight matches. Sometimes somebody feels better than others. Maybe this is the case this week. I mean, I don't know what to say. I know as a tennis fan, you're hoping for tough, three-set battles. Maybe we're going to get them at the end of the week. Who knows."
When the German tennis star and Alcaraz meet on Friday, it will be their 11th meeting and the one who wins will improve to 6-5. In early 2024, Zverev beat the Spaniard at the Australian Open but then lost to him at the Indian Wells Masters and also fell short to the 22-year-old in a five-set French Open final.
