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How Djokovic’s friendly words helped Zverev rediscover winning feeling

World No. 2 will contest his third major final on Sunday in Melbourne
January 24, 2025
Alexander Zverev in action against Novak Djokovic on Friday at the Australian Open.
Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Alexander Zverev in action against Novak Djokovic on Friday at the Australian Open. By ATP Staff

Alexander Zverev is back on the brink of his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

The German reached his first Melbourne championship match after Novak Djokovic retired from the pair’s semi-final clash on Friday due to a muscle tear in his left leg. Zverev later spoke about how some words on the practice court last year from his last-four opponent Djokovic helped him rediscover his form at the majors after a couple of disappointing outings in the second half of 2024.

After reaching the final at Roland Garros last June, Zverev fell to Taylor Fritz at both Wimbledon (in the fourth round) and the US Open (in the quarter-finals). Entering the Rolex Shanghai Masters in October, he had not won a tournament for five months. Facing a difficult moment in his season, Zverev found it helpful talking with Djokovic, whose career has been defined by his ability to bounce back from tough moments.

“I was disappointed with how my year was going after Roland Garros,” recalled Zverev, speaking after his curtailed Melbourne semi-final with Djokovic, of his talks with the Serbian in Shanghai. “I was not winning tournaments anymore. The US Open was extremely disappointing to me because I thought I had a big chance to go very far there, to make it to the finals. I performed bad. Very, very bad in my opinion.

“[In Shanghai] I was just asking him how it was for him when he was having difficult moments, in 2016, 2017 and all that. How he was coming back. He was always very open to me. We had very long chats there. We practised quite a lot together in Shanghai, funny enough. He was just talking to me about his situations and about his experiences with difficult times.”

After Djokovic himself had endured a painful moment in retiring from Friday’s semi-final in Melbourne after the first set, Zverev reiterated his respect for the record 24-time major champion. The German, who led 7-6(5) when his opponent stopped the match, acknowledged he had not seen it coming.

“I didn't expect it. Of course not. I thought it was still a very high-level first set," said Zverev. "I think with a muscle injury, he knew probably to beat me after the first set, he would have had to play probably at least three more hours, and that's very difficult to do if you have a tear or if you have a muscle injury. It's difficult to continue playing at high intensity because it doesn't get better. In a worst-case scenario, it gets worse. That was maybe more it.

“As I said on the court, I have nothing but respect for him. I absolutely admire him. It's the way it is now.”

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The No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zverev has dropped just two sets en route to his third major final. Despite the shortened nature of his semi-final, the 27-year-old believes he has plenty of momentum to work with heading into Sunday’s title showdown against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton.

“I still think that I played a high-level set. I think we both did. So in that regard, I still played tennis,” reflected Zverev. “It's not like it was a withdrawal from the get-go, and I would have had four days off. That would have been maybe a bit too much because then you feel like you're starting a new tournament. You don't want this feeling before a final. You want to be in a match rhythm.

“It is how it is. It's nothing that, of course, I wished for, but it happened. I'm obviously happy that I'm in a Grand Slam final again. I'm obviously happy that I have another shot at winning a Grand Slam. Was it the way I wanted it to end? No, of course not. It's how it is sometimes in sports. I've been in his situation, you know, at Roland Garros with probably a worse injury. It's life. It's sports.”

It All Adds Up

Zverev lost in five sets on both his previous Grand Slam final appearances: at the 2020 US Open against Dominic Thiem, and last year at Roland Garros against Carlos Alcaraz. The German, who has rebuilt his career after suffering a serious ankle injury during his 2022 Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal, has cited working again with fitness coach Jez Green as a boost to his bid to this time get over the line.

“That was the reason why I hired him, to be physically at the same level again that I was and to be able to compete with those guys,” said Zverev. “I think I said it also after the Roland Garros final, I got tired against Carlos. I simply got tired in the fourth and fifth set.

“Yes, there were some unlucky moments… But in general, I got tired, and I didn't want that to happen this year anymore.”

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