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Alexander Zverev Looks To Recapture Form In Miami

Mar 16th 2018

There is still plenty of tennis to be played in the desert, but for those that made an early exit at Indian Wells, Miami cannot come soon enough.  It offers an opportunity for immediate redemption and the chance to capture some precious momentum before heading over to the clay courts of Europe.  Among the players keen to make a deep run in Miami is Alexander Zverev, and there is no doubt the German could definitely do with a notable result in south Florida.

Alexander Zverev

Zverev was the breakout star of 2017.  He secured his first two Masters titles, cracked the Top 3 in the rankings, and put together a string of impressive victories.  It put him head and shoulders ahead of his own generation of players, but things have not quite played out that way the last several months.  It was Andrey Rublev who made a run at the US Open.  Teenage Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who has put forth some solid results already this season, has set tongues wagging with his brand of flashy and imposing tennis.  Korean Hyeon Chung went all the way to the semifinals in Melbourne this past January, and along with Borna Coric, has put together a nice showing at Indian Wells.  Granted, none of these guys have had to live with the pressure like Zverev, because they are still looking to firmly establish themselves in the upper echelons of the sport.  That said, these are the guys who will be with him throughout the entirety of his career, and if he wants to maintain the alpha-position, he must start producing the results that made him leader of that pack.

Zverev must take advantage of the current landscape in the game as well.  There are no guarantees in tennis, but most believe that Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray are apt to return and rediscover their top form or at least something close to it.  While they are either out or rusty, the door for going deep and snatching up trophies is a little wider.  That means also garnering valuable experience in playing at the business-end of events, so that when they do return, players are mentally in a better position to challenge them no matter at what stage of a tournament they meet.  In short, now is an ideal time for Zverev to fill the vacancy of those guys and make it even more difficult for them to chase him down when they do return fully healthy and ready to go.

Alexander Zverev

Aside from staking his place in the pecking order now and for the future, however, the most crucial reason that Zverev needs a good showing in Miami is that he is in danger of going into a deep slump.  Given everything he had accomplished through last summer, his results last autumn and through the first few months of 2018 have been sub-par.  Some of that may have been due to both mental and physical fatigue, but some is undoubtedly due to the increased expectations he faces now that he has proven he can play Top-5 tennis.  Just as winning becomes a habit, so does losing.  He has yet to really look comfortable this season, and until he has a big run at a prestigious event to back up what he did in 2017, he is likely to only get tighter and struggle mightier to unlock his best level of play.

None of this is to say that it is panic time for the German.  He is not the first breakout, young star to endure a bit of a sophomore slump, so there is no reason he cannot turn things around for the better.  He has a good team around him, and his approach to the game is nothing short of professional.  But with plenty to defend over the course of the spring and summer, the pressure to perform is certainly not going to lessen.  As such, Miami could prove pivotal for him before heading back to Europe, so for his sake, he needs to make it count.