Subway Tennis
G.O.A.T.
Zverev has some of the best achievements of the non-major winners, but I think he has limitations in his game that are exposed in majors and for that reason I don’t think he is the “best” of that group.
He has a game perfectly tooled for success in the shortened form of the modern game. He’s an incredible returner, amazing defence, very even sided, high power level and can be serve dominant when required.
The above are all important traits at majors too, but the longer Bo5 two week major format requires more. It exposes a player’s weaknesses and introduces an additional layer of complexity that Zverev can’t handle mentally or game-wise.
In most cases in order to win a major, a player will be forced to use the weakest parts of their game and still find a way to win in a tournament setting where opponents have more time to practice and tailor their games to their opponents weaknesses, and those weaknesses need to hold up for 4-5 hours at a time.
Zverev’s strengths are colossal, but his shortcomings are glaring. He is one of the worst volleyers in the top 100 even in an era where volleying is already de-prioritised. He also has a tendency to be overly defensive. This a particularly terminal trait in the Bo5 format where an opponent on the back foot has plenty of extra time to shift and break momentum and can rely on Zverev to retreat tactically. He also gets sucked into playing a lot of long grinding points that don’t suit his physical strengths. Big-bodied Zverev can break an opponent’s morale with his defence in Bo3, but in Bo5 over a long tournament that grinding also takes it toll on him. it makes getting through the draw brutally attritional and saps energy.
He has a game perfectly tooled for success in the shortened form of the modern game. He’s an incredible returner, amazing defence, very even sided, high power level and can be serve dominant when required.
The above are all important traits at majors too, but the longer Bo5 two week major format requires more. It exposes a player’s weaknesses and introduces an additional layer of complexity that Zverev can’t handle mentally or game-wise.
In most cases in order to win a major, a player will be forced to use the weakest parts of their game and still find a way to win in a tournament setting where opponents have more time to practice and tailor their games to their opponents weaknesses, and those weaknesses need to hold up for 4-5 hours at a time.
Zverev’s strengths are colossal, but his shortcomings are glaring. He is one of the worst volleyers in the top 100 even in an era where volleying is already de-prioritised. He also has a tendency to be overly defensive. This a particularly terminal trait in the Bo5 format where an opponent on the back foot has plenty of extra time to shift and break momentum and can rely on Zverev to retreat tactically. He also gets sucked into playing a lot of long grinding points that don’t suit his physical strengths. Big-bodied Zverev can break an opponent’s morale with his defence in Bo3, but in Bo5 over a long tournament that grinding also takes it toll on him. it makes getting through the draw brutally attritional and saps energy.