As No. 1 hopes fade, Zverev says: 'I am playing terribly'

Alexander Zverev’s World No. 1 hopes took another blow on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open, where the German lost his opening match against Tallon Griekspoor.

The defeat leaves Zverev trailing Jannik Sinner by 3,385 points. Following his defeat, the German was asked about how much climbing to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings was on his mind.

“It was in the beginning,” Zverev said in his post-match press conference. “Now it's less, because I'm just playing terribly. So for me, I have to find my game before thinking about that, because to become World No. 1, you have to win tournaments. I'm not getting past the first, second round at the moment. So I need to figure that out first.”

Zverev, who will remain at No. 2 even if Carlos Alcaraz defends his Indian Wells title, reached the Australian Open final in January. He has since gone 4-4, suffering early exits in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco.

“At the end of the day I'm just not playing good tennis at the moment,” said Zverev, who saved five match points in the third set against Griekspoor before falling in the tie-break. “It's as simple as that. I'm not playing a level that I want to play, definitely not playing anywhere near what I played in Australia. I'm just disappointed with my game. That's No. 1 thing for me.”

The 27-year-old is next scheduled to play in two weeks at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami. Zverev is ready to hit the practice court between now and then in an attempt to iron out his game.

“It's just practice. I practice a lot. I played the Australian Open final and I started practising less,” Zverev said. “I keep working, but right now it's not clicking. I have to find a way to make that happen.”

Zverev leaves Indian Wells holding a 13-9 tournament record. He reached the quarter-finals in 2021 and 2024 in California, while he was chasing his eighth ATP Masters 1000 title this fortnight.