The season may still be ongoing, but Alexander Zverev has already outlined one of his top goals for next year.
Zverev is set to end 2026 as world No.1 and could seal this position as early as next week if he reaches the quarter-finals of the Vienna Open or better. This year, he won his first two Grand Slam titles at the French Open and US Open, and finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon. Outside of the majors, his best run of the season so far was to the final of the Madrid Masters.
On the other hand, there is still room for improvement for Zverev, who has only won three of his last 11 matches against top 10 players on the Tour.
“It was the only tournament I hadn’t been able to win. I had won at every other level, although obviously not every tournament in the world,” Zverev told reporters in Austria of his Grand Slam triumph on Saturday.
“I was under a bit of mental pressure. This Grand Slam title was really important to me and my career. After I won in Paris, it resolved a lot of things for me.”
Zverev believes his French Open win made it possible for him to succeed at the US Open. He is now halfway to claiming a career slam, which is when a player wins every major title at least once. The last to do so was Carlos Alcaraz in January.
“You always have to set yourself new goals,” he explained.
“This year, it was to win a Grand Slam; after that, it was to become world No. 1. I have other goals, too. Hopefully, I’ll still have the opportunity to win the other two Grand Slam tournaments as well. That would be something special for me.
“For the first time this year, I felt that I could compete on grass as well. Learning how to play tennis on grass has also been a huge achievement for me, and now I finally feel that I have a chance to win the title at all four Grand Slam tournaments.” He added.
The 29-year-old has managed to capitalise on the misfortunes of Sinner and Alcaraz, who has been troubled by injury. Alcaraz missed almost five months of the Tour this season due to a wrist injury. Meanwhile, Sinner hasn’t played since Wimbledon due to a knee problem.
In their head-to-heads, Zverev is 6-7 against Alcaraz and 4-11 against Sinner.
“Of course, Jannik and Carlos are the biggest challenges we face in tennis. There’s no question about that. I’m also looking forward to competing against them over the next few years.” He commented.
Zverev is the top seed at the Vienna Open, where he could play Alcaraz in the final. His first round match will be against Spanish wild card Martín Landaluce.
