Alexander Zverev is as confident as ever off the back of his Roland Garros triumph and his run to the Wimbledon final. But the German knows he faces a tough test on Sunday against World No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner.
Not only is the Italian the top-ranked player in the PIF ATP Rankings, but he has won nine consecutive Lexus ATP Head2Head matches against Zverev. What must the 29-year-old do to flip the script?
According to Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Coco Gauff among others, Zverev needs to find inroads on Sinner’s serve and to earn easier points on his own delivery.
“The big thing against Sinner is the last nine times they've played, Sinner has absolutely dominated him on his serve,” Gilbert of Tennis Channel’s The Big T podcast said.
Sinner has not lost a service game to Zverev in their past six meetings, saving all 10 break points he has faced.
“He has got to be flexible in changing his position, maybe be a little more unpredictable, returning in,” Gilbert said. “Do some different things.”
On the other hand, Gilbert strongly feels Zverev needs to make adjustments to his own serving strategy. The two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion has been among the top three players on the ATP Tour each season since 2023 in first-serve percentage, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The former World No. 4 believes Zverev needs to abandon high-percentage serving and try to hit aces.
“The high percentage that works against a lot of players doesn't work against Sinner,” Gilbert said. “And once Sinner gets in the rally, he just completely smothers him with the forehand. And then since he doesn’t get a break, he's getting early breaks up.”
Gilbert explained that Zverev is normally able to break opponents down in baseline exchanges, especially in backhand-to-backhand rallies. But the American said that because Sinner can stick with Zverev in those points, he is then able to dominate in forehand-to-forehand exchanges.
“If you look at it, there are some areas that cause some concern,” Gilbert said. “The biggest one, obviously, is if you just look at the stats, he's making no progress on the Sinner serve. So he's got to figure something out there.”
The good news for Zverev is that he entered his Wimbledon quarter-final against Taylor Fritz having lost seven consecutive matches against the American. Fritz struggled with his knee in their clash, but Zverev was also playing well.
“It helps a little bit mentally that he just overcame Fritz, [to whom] he had lost seven times in a row,” Gilbert said. “He played really well against Fritz. Even if Fritz didn't get hurt, he was maybe going to win that one.”
But turning the tables on Sinner will certainly not be easy. Gilbert believes that Zverev cannot lean on his confidence from winning 16 of his past 17 matches, including lifting the Roland Garros trophy. The longtime player, coach and analyst thinks the German must make clear adjustments to make a difference against the four-time major champion.
“He is going to have to do something outside his comfort level, because the four matches that they’ve played this year were all straight sets,” Gilbert said. “I know he's coming in with a ton of confidence after winning the French Open, and now he is in the Wimbledon final. But if he doesn't make changes, it's going to be straight sets.”
© Copyright 1994 - 2026 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Community Social Media Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Feedback | Cookies | Your Privacy Choices 
