The life of an elite tennis player has its fair share of setbacks, and German Alexander Zverev must be painfully aware of that.
Recovering from a horrific injury during the last Roland Garros, the 24-year-old has been on the courts of the Diriyah Tennis Cup of Dubai for an exhibition match.
While it will take some time for him to get back to his top game, there is still hope that he might become the best player of his generation.
Gifted with a strong backhand and a capacity to play on fast surfaces, Zverev should be climbing to the top again throughout a stellar career.
Beating Djokovic and winning the Olympics
One of the top tennis events of 2020 was the Tokyo Olympics, which Zverev won after beating Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and crushing Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-1 in the final.
It was a stunning victory for Zverev, aged 22 at the time, but also for Germany, which hadn’t seen a gold medal since Steffi Graff in 1988.
One of Zverev’s main qualities is his adaptability, which led him to win tournaments on all types of fast surfaces, such as indoor, clay, and hard courts.
Considering that he is one of the rare players to have won against Rafael Nadal on clay, you can see the potential for a very bright future.
From number two to number 12, what happened?
Zverev’s career stalled after a serious ankle during a match against Nadal at the French Open in June and he was unable to play for the rest of 2022.
His ATP ranking has fallen from two to 12 during that time, but he is now back on court, playing an exhibition match during the Dubai Tennis World tournament.
Will he ever get back on top?
Zverev still represents an immense hope for Germany to become the best male tennis player in the world, but the road to recovery won’t happen in a day.
His poor result during the Diriyah Tennis Cup doesn’t reflect his abilities and resilience, and pundits hope that Zverev will be back near his best in 2023.
According to multiple Grand Slam winner Boris Becker, Zverev could become the greatest German player of all time and inspire the next generation of German players to get into the game.
However, he needs to win at least one Grand Slam to establish a top tier career.
The good thing is that Zverev is still young and his shelf-life in the industry is far from over.
Let’s see what happens for his next exhibition match in Dubai in late December, as the World wants to know when the German player will be able to get back into his best tennis.
