Alexander Zverev was disastrous in February, not taking advantage of Jannik Sinner's three-month suspension and losing further certainties after the defeat in the Australian Open final.
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The German champion had surprised everyone with his choice to play in tournaments on the red clay in South America, behind which there was a significant compensation and the desire to earn as many points as possible at this stage of the season.
Had he performed better this month, Sascha could have approached Sinner's firm top position in the ATP ranking.
However, it was immediately evident that the ace from Hamburg did not have the right feeling and suffered three very painful defeats.
Francisco Cerundolo halted his run in Buenos Aires, Francisco Comesana made a crazy comeback against him at the Rio Open and the young American Learner Tien beat him at the Acapulco ATP 500 against all odds.
The 2025 AO finalist will have to defend just 600 points between Indian Wells and Miami next month, but is likely to be overtaken by Carlitos Alcaraz in second place in the ATP rankingat the start of the season on the red clay.
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Zvverev was disastrous
Speaking on Eurosport, former French player Camille Pin analyzed Sascha's disappointing results in February: "We were all surprised when Zverev announced that he would be playing on red clay in South America this month, but we thought he wanted to get the hang of this surface ahead of Roland Garros.
He played three tournaments this month, but he didn't seem to have the right motivation.
I don't know if he went there only for economic reasons, but I wouldn't rule it out.
He didn't take advantage of a very important opportunity to get closer to the top position in the ATP ranking."
The German did not hide that the blow suffered in the AO final deeply hurt him, because he really seemed one step away from realizing his dream after shining in the last part of the 2024 season.
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The match against Sinner at Melbourne Park showed him that he is still far from the most coveted goal.v
