There are plenty of people out there who think Alexander Zverev might lose his edge after winning Roland Garros, questioning whether he’ll have the same drive.
But some believe it could push him to even greater heights. Only time will tell which side has it right.
It’s going to be fascinating to see what kind of impact his first Grand Slam title—the one he’s spent his whole career chasing—has on the rest of his journey.
While 29 isn’t young by tennis standards, he still has time and talent on his side to do more before calling it a day.
Boris Becker certainly thinks so. He’s even made a bold prediction about where Zverev could end up in the rankings. Speaking with Eurosport Germany, Becker said.
Boris Becker backs Alexander Zverev to achieve more success
Speaking to Eurosport, the six-time major champion started off by discussing whether he believed Alexander Zverev had what it took to win additional Grand Slams.
Highlighting the fact that Zverev is still only 29, Becker said: “He has the potential, and at 29, he’s also the age to realise it in the next two or three years.”
He then added: “My advice to him at 29 is: ‘Win everything you can, because at some point, your time will be up. It doesn’t end after the first Grand Slam title. It’s about new goals he has to set for himself. Will he become a second Dominic Thiem and ‘only’ win one Grand Slam?”
Becker went on to explain his belief that Zverev could even climb higher in the rankings: “He has what it takes for more – even to be number one in the world rankings because he has been playing consistently well for many months.”
Zverev has recently outlined his retirement plans, and from what Becker said, there appears to be plenty of time left for him to add more titles before hanging up his racket.
How close is Alexander Zverev to reaching world number one?
Taking a look at the ATP live rankings, there are some interesting developments among the top three players in the world.
Jannik Sinner still holds a commanding lead at the top, but Zverev has been making progress in closing the gap between himself and Carlos Alcaraz in second place.
While Zverev won Roland Garros, Carlos Alcaraz missed it due to injury. With Alcaraz also set to miss Wimbledon, where he was a finalist last year, he’s about to lose another significant chunk of points from his total.
If the German can keep up his form over the next few weeks, he might be able to pull closer to Alcaraz.
But closing in on Sinner is another matter entirely. Zverev would need an extended dip in form from Sinner just to get near his 13,500 points. Right now, Zverev sits at 7,190.
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