2016 was a career year for teenage sensation Alexander Zverev. He made finals on all three surfaces and won his first title, defeating US Open champ Stan Wawrinka in St. Petersburg. He also cracked the top 20 for the first time in his career.
Despite the best year of his career, his match against Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells is the key moment of the year. After failing to close that match out with a sitter volley, the German lost the match in what was one of the biggest learning experiences for him. Sometimes those moments are difficult for a young player like him to try and rebound from, but he showed a veteran-like mentality in coming back from it and making himself a better player.
Tested In The Spring
David Goffin and Gilles Simon are two of the most consistent players on tour and can get under your skin on any given day given their movement and ability to get the ball back in play. In both matches, he dropped the second set and then was able to hold his nerve to win the match.
Feisty Fed
After losing to Roger Federer in Rome, the German met the Swiss maestro once again, this time on the grass of Halle. Throughout his career, Federer has been “class on grass” so defeating one of the world’s best on his best surface would be a test. Federer made some adjustments after finding it hard to deal with Zverev’s power, and all of a sudden, he took the second set to make it a match.
The real question for Zverev was how was he going to cope with Federer’s newfound success on countering his power. Was he going to wilt under the pressure again or going to stand up to one of the greatest players to step on a tennis court? A break early in the third allowed some pressure to ease off of him, and he would hold his nerve for what was the biggest win of his young career.
His improved mental fortitude showed once again in St. Petersburg, defeating Stan Wawrinka in the three sets to win his first title. Like every one of his test last year, he did drop the second set and even went down a break in the third. Down but not out of it, he broke back and then got the elusive break in the 11th game to give him a shot to serve out for his first title.
2017 Providing A Positive Start
Despite losing to Richard Gasquet in the Hopman Cup opener, Zverev showed once again that he has it against the top players. Once again versus his idol Roger Federer, he displayed his own style of tennis, showing us his tremendous powerful groundstrokes and shotmaking. Serving for a third set tiebreak, he was unphased by a fan who yelled, “Give us another tiebreak.” He responded, “What do you think I’m trying to do?”
Yes, it was an exhibition, but it showed a much lighter side of Zverev that some are not used to seeing yet. The emotions he displays on the court are fiery, both good and bad. This light side against his idol shows that he’s ready for situations like this if it does happen again.
2017 is an important year for Zverev. After a huge breakout season into the top 20, he needs to show the consistency to remain up there. Next up on his bucket list of goals is going to be making it to the round of 16 of a Grand Slam and the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 tournament.
His current best Grand Slam showings came last year with third round showings at both Wimbledon and the French Open. His best Masters showing? That fourth round loss to Nadal last year at Indian Wells. It all comes back full circle, but for Zverev, that’s alright, he’s grown a tremendous amount since then, and he’s only trending upwards since then.