Against his “fear opponent”
A battered Zverev leaves out early again
Updated on October 6th, 2025 – 5:43 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Even a winning first set is not enough to move into the round of 16. Zverev’s chances of a tournament victory were almost rare this year.
Alexander Zverev had to take another setback at the Masters tournament in Shanghai. The 28-year-old lost 6: 4, 3: 6, 2: 6 to the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, despite the gained opening set, and was already eliminated in the third round. After 2:14 hours, the defeat of the Hamburg was certain.
Zverev started the game confidently, but could not keep the level in the Chinese metropolis in the event of a sultry -hot conditions. At temperatures of over 30 degrees, he only dominated the first set, after which his game became increasingly prone to errors. Rinderknech, placed significantly behind Zverev as number 54 in the world rankings, consistently used the weak phase – and was celebrated by the audience with spectacular points.
Zverev looked physically struck. In his tedious two -round victory over the qualifier Valentin Royer, he had sued the pain on the right toe – and the back has also caused him to have problems for weeks.
With increasing playing time, the control of the Germans decreased, while Rinderknech acted confidently and finally deservedly won. Zverev then dragged himself to the net, congratulated his strong opponent fairly and quickly fled into the catacombs.
Later he said emotionally that the match was “unfortunately nothing unusual” for him lately. “I just have no self -confidence, no belief in my blows. My year was terrible, I just play all -round terrible tennis.”
For Zverev it is not the first defeat against the French this year. Already in Wimbledon he had failed in round one on the now 30-year-old. After that, Zverev had spoken openly about mental problems and took a break. He came back with two semi-final participants in Toronto and Cincinnati, but at the US Open (3rd round) and most recently in Beijing (quarter-finals), the number three in the world was over early.
In Shanghai the draw for Zverev was actually promising. The most world ranking Carlos Alcaraz had no start. When, on Sunday, the defending champion Jannik Sinner, which was set to number two, had to give up due to injury, Zverev’s chances of getting very far, almost rarely this season. But the great opportunity to secure the second title of the year was unused.