analysis
Alexander Zverev played his last tournament game in 2025. The season was full of disappointments and problems that needed a restart.
Alexander Zverev has a reputation for occasionally having very specific explanations for his defeats. So after his exit from the tournament in Rome he gave the balls that he called “Joke” referred to as complicity. After his last tournament game of the season, the German tennis professional was very clear: “It was an incredibly unsatisfactory season.”
Mara Thellmann, Sportschau Tennis, ARD, November 14, 2025 11:12 p.m
“Not many ups” – things went downhill after the Australian Open
The best news for Zverev might be that this season is now over. That another year is over in which there is no number three in the world rankings Grand Slamwon the tournament is not at the top of the list of things that make 2025 so “unsatisfactory” for him. “The tennis season is long, with many Ups and downs. But for me there weren’t many ups this time.”Zverev admitted after his exit from the ATP Finals in Turin.
It had started so well. The 28-year-old reached the top at the beginning of the year Australian Open the final, was doing really well – but then he was shown off by Jannik Sinner. The Italian won confidently in three sets. Zverev didn’t have a single chance to break – and therefore never had a chance of winning the title. This demoralized and disappointed him. It became increasingly clear afterwards that Zverev is so far away from Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who will end the year as number one.
After Australia, Zverev reached three finals and only won one – and that was at the ATP tournament in Munich, which is by no means one of the top events on the tour. With his win rate (70.1 percent according to the ATP homepage), the Hamburg native is “only” number eight this year.
Mental problems, lots of matches and a bad finish
This was also determined by psychological problems that he made public after his early exit from Wimbledon. Zverev took a break, but not for too long. You get the feeling that he wants to force it. The former world number two has been one of the most frequent players on the tour for years – so far this year only Alex de Minaur has played one more game than Zverev (80). Alcaraz (currently 79) will still overtake him, but the Spaniard is also making significant progress in the tournaments.
It’s fitting that Zverev this year with his, in his own words “worst match in the past few months” has completed. He lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in two sets. This year he has found many clear words. Sometimes you could follow it, sometimes it was more difficult. If Zverev ends the season as “unsatisfactory“, but this is more than understandable, because the negative events and disappointments lined up one after the other.
The ongoing dispute with Boris Becker
This caused him sporting frustration, but also many moments in which he felt attacked, which may have made the experience in 2025 even more unpleasant. The prime example of this is that his relationship with Boris Becker becomes even more tense than it already is almost every week. The tennis legend wants to see Zverev win, but doesn’t skimp on criticism – and that triggers Zverev.
“I think he’s relatively unconcerned about me, to be honest. I think he’s looking for attention a bit, and he gets it through me. That’s unfortunately the case. But I’m tired of that now.”said the tennis professional a month ago in an interview with “Bild am Sonntag”. At the end of the tennis year, both of them continued their feud “through ties”.
Boris Becker looks critically
Becker spoke about one on “Sky”. “mental block”said, among other things: “I’m not a psychologist, I can’t see what he’s like inside. But that had less to do with tennis.” Zverev reacted annoyed again: “If that’s his opinion… I’m honestly tired of his comments.”
Zverev’s plan: Davis Cup, “time out” – and then?
It’s good for Zverev that the season is over. He has decided to Davis Cup (November 18th to 23rd) to compete for Germany again, but it already seems like he is longing for the break, which would be understandable. “I play the Davis Cup, then I take some time off and have time to think about it”said Zverev after his last tournament game of the year.
The feeling manifests itself that the tennis player is more preoccupied with other things than with the next rally. The dissatisfaction of not having yet won a Grand Slam and of not having yet achieved the goal of being number one in the world rankings. The expectations placed on him are great – the only question is whether they are greater from the outside or the ones he has within himself.
Already at United Cup in Perth Zverev will start the new tennis year (January 2nd to 11th, 2026), and the Australian Open will begin in Melbourne on January 18th – so there won’t be much time to come to terms with it. Zverev still has to use the break, he has to decide how he wants to approach the rest of his career. The critics will remain, and the dominance of Sinner and Alcaraz probably will too. Zverev is at a crossroads.