Alexander Zverev is dragging himself to the ATP finals on the final stretch. There is still hope before the tournament of the best of the year in Turin.
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner tugged at the big silver trophy for the photographers with mock-snarky expressions, but in the official group photo before the ATP finals on Turin’s magnificent Piazza Castello, someone else placed closest to the trophy: Alexander Zverev is the only one of the six professionals present on Friday evening who has already won the noble piece twice. And seeing each other again is a joy – especially at the end of a very bumpy season.
“The two of them are at the top,” said Zverev, who starts the tournament on Sunday evening (8.30 p.m./Sky) against the American Ben Shelton, in the direction of the exceptional players Sinner and Alcaraz: “But of course anyone can beat anyone. In the last two years I was in a group with Carlos – and won both times.” At least that’s what the Hamburg native hasn’t forgotten about talking himself up in these dreary autumn weeks before the final tournament of the eight best of the season.
Injury worries, a severe defeat and hardly any consistency – the approach to Turin was a shaky journey for the German number one. But the recently injured ankle that tormented Zverev in the 6-0, 6-1 loss to Sinner in the Paris semi-final probably doesn’t cause any major problems. And even if there are still question marks about performance, there is still more hope for a breakthrough.
On the one hand there are the conditions in the Turin Arena. “I traditionally think that no player in the world wants Alexander Zverev on a hard court in the hall,” said Sky expert Andrea Petkovic in a press session on the broadcasting station and pointed out Zverev’s serving strength: “If he is healthy, then I will definitely see him in the semi-finals.”
A realistic scenario. Not least because Zverev only caught a big chunk of world number one Sinner in the four-man group phase – while Alcaraz, Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic and Zverev’s nemesis Taylor Fritz would only wait after the preliminary round. In any case, Shelton and Félix Auger-Aliassime or Lorenzo Musetti (who fought for his ticket in the final in Athens against Djokovic on Saturday and was therefore missing from the photo date in Turin like the Serb and Auger-Aliassime) should not make the third in the world rankings sweat with fear – even if he last lost to Auger-Aliassime in the third round of the US Open.
Especially since Zverev has already triumphed twice in the finals – another plus point for the German. “When you come to a place where you have celebrated success and feel good, the entire past is forgotten in that moment,” said Petkovic. And yet, at the end of a complicated season, doubts remain.
Video: Zverev: “Sinner and Alcaraz are far ahead”
Zverev only won one tournament in 2025, that was in Munich in April. The lost Australian Open final in January seemed to suck all the self-confidence out of him for months – there were also mental problems that he addressed after his first round exit at Wimbledon. The frequent player’s body also caused problems again and again.
Recently, bright moments in which Zverev finally shed his almost chronic passivity alternated with non-performances. In the final in Vienna he brought Sinner to the brink of defeat, in Paris he even beat his feared opponent Daniil Medvedev – only to be beaten up by Sinner.
The winner of 2018 and 2021 remains a surprise bag before the start. He is certainly not one of the top favorites. There is much to suggest that training partners Alcaraz and Sinner, who have faced each other in the last three Grand Slam finals, will also fight for the title at the fifth most important tournament in the tennis calendar.