This year, Sascha Zverev was widely expected to bounce back from the below-par season he had in 2019. However, things got immediately ugly for the German that was entangled in a sheer horror show in Brisbane on the occasion of the inaugural ATP Cup.
The world no.7 was opposed to a bunch of next gen players that will be among his most prominent opponents for the rest of his still-young career, and Sascha lost to all of them after serving a considerable amount of double faults. He lost 4-6 7-6 (3) 6-2 to Alex De Minaur after he was leading 6-4 4-2 and serving 14 double faults. Then he lost 6-1 6-4 (10 double faults) to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The German demolished a racket after losing the 2nd set. The count of double faults went down to 7 for Sasha against Denis Shapovalov, but the result was not so flattering (6-2 6-2).
Zverev and his father
The German had a colossal meltdown during his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas when he demolished a racket and then he diverted his rage at his father that was in tears after the exchange.
After this round robin, the German has a depressing 0-3 win-loss record in 2020, and it was definitely expected much more from him especially after spending so much time with Roger Federer during a huge series of exhibitions in Latin American and China. What’s is going to be extremely damaging for the German is that he showed a huge mental weakness in all matches and his meltdowns will be something that will give more confidence to his opposition in the months to come.
Time to go to the drawing board for Sascha. He has the time and the capability to turn things around. Boris Becker to help?
Alexander Zverev’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked no.7, Zverev played his last match on the 7th of January when he lost to Denis Shapovalov 6-2 6-2 in the round robin in the ATP Cup.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked no.6, the Greek played his last match on the 5th of January when he beat Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-4 in the round robin in the ATP Cup.
Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas played each other 6 times. The head to head is 5-1 for Tsitsipas.
The last time that they fought against each other, Stefanos Tsitsipas won 6-1 6-4 in the round robin in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney (ATP Cup) on the 5th of January 2020.
Here the video highlights.
Alex De Minaur’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.18 (career-high), De Minaur played his last match on the 5th of January when he defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-76 6-4 6-2 in the round robin in the ATP Cup.
Denis Shapovalov’s ranking and performance in 2020
Currently ranked no.14 (career-high), Denis played his last match on the 7th of January when he defeated Alexander Zverev 6-2 6-2 in the round robin in the ATP Cup.
Alex De Minaur and Denis Shapovalov played each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for De Minaur.
The last time that they locked horns, Alex De Minaur won 6-76 6-4 6-2 in the round robin in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney (ATP Cup) on the 5th of January 2020.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alex De Minaur and Denis Shapovalov |
| Embed from Getty Images |
