Alexander Zverev appeared to have banished his demons after winning two Grand Slam titles in 2026, but the German confirmed he still has a weakness at the end of matches in a dramatic match against Alex de Minaur at the Laver Cup.
Zverev was the nearly man at the top of men’s tennis over the last decade, as first the trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic halted his ambitions of winning Grand Slam titles.
That was before Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner started becoming serial collectors of the biggest titles in men’s tennis.
Zverev looked destined to remain in the shadows as he served for the match against Alcaraz in the Australian Open semi-final back in January, only for the Spaniard to roar back at him and finally clinch the title.
The months since then have changed Zverev’s career as he won the French Open in June and backed that up by winning the US Open in New York earlier this month.
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He spoke after the second of those two wins about feeling different on court, with the pressure of trying to win a major title now lifted from his shoulders.
Yet when pressure was applied by Alex de Minaur in a compelling Laver Cup tie, his old demons returned to haunt him.
His increasingly repetitive habit of bouncing the ball when he is nervous before delivering a serve gives his opponents an insight into his mindset and that edginess was noted by De Minaur as he broke Zverev’s serve when he had a chance to finish off the match at the end of the second set.
He then cashed in on nerves from the German once again as he saved a match point before winning the tie-break.
Many will argue defeats in the Laver Cup are not hugely significant in the overall story of a player, but this had to be seen as a relapse for Zverev as he confirmed pressure remains an enemy to him.
His curious celebration at the end of the US Open final against Ben Shelton highlighted how he can be locked into a home in matches, as he didn’t even realise he won the match until his team pointed it out to him.
That may have been the best solution to Zverev’s tension issues as when he has time to think about the moment of victory, he has a habit of letting it slip.
He mentioned after the win against Shelton that he ‘would have been really nervous’ if he realised the score and all of his opponents know that scoreboard pressure is a weapon they can use against Zverev.
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Any suggestion that he has rid himself of that problem after becoming a double Grand Slam champion was banished after the defeat against De Minaur.
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