Two break points awarded
Zverev fails in the preliminary round of the ATP Finals
11/15/2025 – 2:14 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
Alexander Zverev’s lack of form is back. He was eliminated from the ATP Finals in Turin after a defeat against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Alexander Zverev shook his head and looked down in disappointment. The German tennis star failed in the preliminary round of the ATP Finals after a bitter disappointment. The 28-year-old lost his personal final at the end of the group against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 4:6, 6:7 (4:7) and lost his chance of a third triumph at the prestigious tournament, at least this year.
“It’s obviously bitter to have lost the last match on the ATP tour in this way,” said tennis icon Boris Becker on Sky: “From a German perspective, it’s frustrating. The second set wasn’t good enough.”
Instead of Zverev, Auger-Aliassime can now compete with world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals on Saturday (8.30 p.m./Sky). The 22-year-old Alcaraz won all three of his group games and will definitely end the year as number 1 in the tennis world. In the second semi-final, the Italian defending champion Jannik Sinner is the clear favorite against the Australian Alex de Minaur.
For Zverev, what was for him a rather weak ATP season ended in a fitting way. He was unable to fulfill his dream of winning a Grand Slam tournament; he celebrated his only tournament victory in April in Munich. During the year, the 2021 Olympic champion repeatedly suffered physical setbacks, with his back in particular being a constant problem. He will still end the tennis year as third in the world rankings.
But Zverev still has one chance to end the season on a positive note with a highlight victory: Germany’s top player wants to lead the DTB team to its first German triumph since 1993 at the final round of the Davis Cup in Bologna next week.
Before the first serve there were whistles from the audience because the players took a little too long to enter the court. The TV images showed Auger-Aliassime waiting for Zverev. “It’s a nervous game,” said Becker, “sometimes you’re happy to keep the other person waiting.”
Becker saw Zverev as having a sporting “duty” because: “We all expect him to reach the semi-finals against Carlos Alcaraz. But the truth is on the pitch.” And that was the case in the first sentence: As in the previous match against Sinner, Zverev didn’t take advantage of his chances. He missed two break points, but his opponent got the break to win the set in the German’s first weaker service game. This was helped by Zverev’s fatal volley mistake.
After Zverev missed two more break chances in the second set when the score was 2-2, he discussed loudly with his box. He then measured his sugar level on the bench on World Diabetes Day. Zverev has suffered from diabetes since childhood.
With sometimes a lot of effort, Zverev got through his services, but he didn’t have luck on his side in the tiebreak – and so the defeat was certain after 2:07 hours.
The match was briefly interrupted in the first set because there was another medical incident in the stands of the Inalpi Arena. The organizers announced a little later that the person was doing well. There had previously been three more serious cases around the tournament; two men aged 70 and 78 had died in hospital.