Top-ranked Novak Djokovic hasn’t won a tournament all year. Record 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal has been far from his best. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have been out injured. And Daniil Medvedev has won only one clay-court title in his career.
Considering the state of his rivals in the top five, Alexander Zverev’s credentials entering Roland Garros are looking pretty good following his second Italian Open title.
The clay-court grand slam in Paris starts this weekend.
“I’m somebody when I don’t play well, I can lose to anyone. But when I play well, I know I can beat anyone. That’s my mindset. That’s how I think about it,” Zverev said after raising the trophy in Rome.
“I know I have to focus on myself, to find my rhythm in Paris the way I did here. Then everything is on my own racket.”
Zverev won 44 of his 49 service points in a 6-4, 7-5 victory over 24th-ranked Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 7-5 in Rome to win the Italian Open on Sunday to earn his biggest trophy since a gruesome ankle injury two years ago.
It’s been a long road of recovery for the fifth-ranked Zverev after tearing three ligaments in his right ankle during the 2022 French Open semi-finals against Nadal.
In all, Zverev has reached three consecutive semi-finals at Roland Garros — which has led him to declare it’s the tournament he wants to win more than any other.
“It’s the one where I have the most memories, good or bad,” Zverev said.
“US Open, yes, I was two points away from winning the title. Of course, that’s also one that kind of sticks out. (But) Roland Garros, so close to being in the final in 2021, I felt like I was playing some of the best tennis of my life in 2022. Those kind of things, they are still in the back of my mind. That’s the one that I want to do well in.”
That loss in the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem remains the closest that the 27-year-old Zverev has come to winning a grand slam title. Having been in the top five of the rankings for years, claiming the Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago and winning the ATP Finals twice, a grand slam title is the only big thing missing in his career.
And if Zverev is going to contend in Paris, he’s going to have to do it while dealing with a major distraction.
Zverev has disputed a penalty order from a German court over allegations that he caused bodily harm to a woman and he will go on trial in his home country starting on May 31 — entering the middle weekend of the French Open. He said in Rome that he won’t attend the start of the legal proceedings.
On Sunday, Zverev warmed up for the French Open by winning his second Italian Open title. He won his first in 2017 when he was 20, and his first trophy since he broke his ankle in the French Open semi-finals in 2022.
“Obviously winning my first ever (Masters title) here in Rome and winning my first after my injury also in Rome, so Rome is a very special place for me.”
