“I think everybody knows how good Alexander now is and as I said, he is the future of our sport and the present too,” said a visibly relieved Rafael Nadal to his on-court interviewer Jim Courier, after defeating the 19-year-old Alexander Zverev in what was a contest between tennis’ two generations, on Saturday.
The 30-year-old Mallorcan’s experience won out in the end over the teenager’s spiritedness in the 245-minute long matchup that went the distance in its 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 score-line. But in holding his own for a good portion in the match, including taking a two-sets-to-one lead over the 2009 champion, Zverev went on to reaffirm that the future of tennis was in safe hands.
Is Zverev steering men’s tennis in the right direction?
Since the definition of the ‘Big Four’ has started to break down progressively, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal out of the classification bracket and Novak Djokovic struggling to turnaround his lean fortunes, there has palpable anticipation about the next generation taking their place as the sport’s vanguards. That there has been no dearth of promising youngsters has in turn accentuated the implication that men’s tennis is seeking to beyond the era of the much revered quartet’s domination.
The only catch to the aforementioned scenario has, however, presented itself from the players’ end. Be it Nick Kyrgios’s repetitive about-face about his professional priorities and questionable on-court performances, or Dominic Thiem’s over-exhaustive scheduling, or Borna Coric’s recurring injury woes; the future of men’s tennis hasn’t really translated itself into acts of continuity.
Zverev then has convincingly stepped in and filled this gap with his steady rise through the ranks being a pertinent counterpoint to his immediate peers, who prior to getting caught up in the vortex of their troubles, had all burst into the scene with quick-fire results in their favour. His third-round defeat at Melbourne Park thus also marks a telling pivot in his nascent pro career that has seen him post four victories against top-10 players in 2016, including Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, whom he defeated in the final of the St Petersburg Open for his maiden ATP singles title in September.
Practical learning from the best
“I was very impressed with how he played because I’d played (him) a few weeks earlier in Rome on clay and he was not that impressive,” Federer had remarked in January this year, after having lost to the youngster in the men’s singles match at the Hopman Cup, in reference to the duo’s first meeting against each other at the 2016 Rome Masters’ second round. “And then all of a sudden, I played him like month-and-a-half later, the second time around that we play and I thought he was very good,” the Swiss added, referring to the upset Zverev had notched over him in the semi-finals in Halle, where Federer was the favourite to win his ninth title.
These words, coming from Federer, whose head-to-head with Zverev is skewed in the latter’s direction after having lost his second – albeit unofficial – singles match to the German, in the Hopman Cup, are the introductory tract for his opponents to elaborate on his professional credentials. But for Zverev himself, they are takeaways to not only keep the same intensity going, but to also remain focused instead of getting carried away.
The Monte Carlo resident adopted a similar line of thought after his loss to Nadal and noted in his post-match interview, “I am close. I kind of showed it a few times last year, and this now. Taking him (Nadal) to five sets is very positive. He played very well, I think. He served very well. Everything about that match I think is positive except, like, one or two things.”
The “one or two things” that Zverev was referring to in his encounter against Nadal was the hesitancy, and its fallouts, that crept into his game as the match progressed towards its business end.
Zverev started off strongly, taking advantage of the 14-time Grand Slam champion’s early jitters to secure a break in the opening game of the first set and pressed his momentum long enough to win the set. But his tactics to engage in extended shot-making from back of the baseline instead of frequenting the net as the match progressed saw to it that he tired himself out. Moreover, it also played right into the Spaniard’s zone, helping him to cross over to victory in spite of his last couple of five-setters ending with him on the losing side.
While understandably, it was a morose walk back from the court for Zverev, who with his shoulders drooping looked almost on the verge of tears, in terms of bouncing back from such defeat, there’s a handy leaf to be borrowed from Nadal’s own book. To not only persist in the face of good fortunes, but to also remain undeterred in failure. By the looks of it, Zverev is already succeeding in the former. Over the course of time, he will get round to the latter as well.
