Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic warned of shock US Open menace
Boris Becker has warned the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic that Alexander Zverev might be the darkish horse at this 12 months’s US Open, which is ready to get underway subsequent week. Zverev has by no means gained a Grand Slam however is making his method again to the higher echelons of tennis after a troublesome 12 months in 2022.
Zverev was compelled to overlook a number of tournaments after tearing his ankle ligaments whereas taking part in Rafael Nadal within the semi-finals of final 12 months’s French Open. He was as a result of make his comeback on the Davis Cup in September however suffered a brand new damage, which dominated him out for a prolonged time period.
The German has since returned to peak health and reached the final 4 of the French Open in May for the second 12 months in a row. He additionally gained the Hamburg Open in July, with the achievement marking his twentieth title at ATP stage, earlier than making it into the semi-finals in Cincinnati earlier this month.
Becker believes that Zverev is now able to problem Alcaraz and Djokovic for US Open glory, together with his newfound confidence standing him in good stead to succeed at Flushing Meadows.
“He has found his hard-court form, the big hope is, of course, if he can bring that to New York,” mentioned Becker on Eurosport. “Now I think he has gained enough match practice over the year, he has gained enough self-confidence. In this respect, he is being taken very seriously again by the world’s top players and that is a good sign for him.”
Becker went on to spotlight Zverev’s lack of damage issues this 12 months as one other issue that might make him a severe menace to different high gamers on the US Open.
“He has now played the tournaments to the end without injury and has actually improved from month to month, and the knot burst in Paris,” added Becker. “He was okay on grass, I’ll call it that, and then he won Hamburg, and I think now he’s also back in his head, where he says ‘okay, I’ve done my homework, physically I’m fit’.”
Zverev fell outdoors the world’s high 25 because of his accidents final 12 months however has since managed to get himself again as much as twelfth place within the ATP rankings. His spectacular latest kind has gone a protracted solution to shaping his return to prominence over the previous few months, which Becker feels is worthy of a fair increased rating spot.
“You’ve addressed his place as 12th in the world, but what’s decisive is that of this year’s players he’s already in the top eight, and for me that’s absolute world class,” he mentioned.