Alexander Zverev has finally shed his tag as the nearly man of tennis after winning his first two Grand Slam titles in 2026, with his Laver Cup captain revealing the German was doubting whether he would ever break through and win the sport’s biggest prizes this time last year.

Zverev claimed his first Grand Slam title when he won the French Open in June and he backed that up by winning the US Open final against Ben Shelton earlier this month.

After a decade of coming up short against greats of the game like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the emergence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as serial Grand Slam title winners appeared to be a barrier to Zverev realising his dreams.

Now tennis legend Yannick Noah has revealed Zverev was struggling with his belief levels when he worked with him as Team Europe captain at last year’s Laver Cup in San Francisco.

Zverev lost the decisive match of the competition against Taylor Fritz, with Noah suggesting that was down, in part, to a collapse in belief and confidence.

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“This guy tried so hard, kept coming back, you know, he’s coming up against Nadal, then he’s coming up against Djokovic and then he’s coming again and it’s Roger,” began Noah, speaking on an episode of the Off Court with Greg Rusedski podcast that will be released on Thursday.

“Then it’s Alcaraz and it’s Sinner, but he kept coming back and suddenly it’s paid off. I was really happy when he won the French Open and then so happy to see his face when he won the US Open. He was like a little child and he didn’t even know he had won at the end.”

Noah also opened up about the player he tried to motivate at last year’s Laver Cup, as he gave an insight into his mindset.

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“Last year he was not in a good place because I could tell that he was getting a little frustrated,” stated the 1983 French Open champion.

“He was tired of trying too hard. But he just kept trying. I think he showed so much resilience over the ten years. He has been No 2, No 3 and he always kept trying. As a player, this is something that you have and as a coach, as a parent. You always say, keep trying, never give up, never give up. But sometimes it’s very hard.

“And it was very hard on Sascha. I got some quality time with him when I say, you know, keep trying, your time will come. But you’re not sure. You hope. You’re trying to be positive about this. You’re trying to be optimistic, but you don’t know.

“And then all of a sudden you when I see him win, when I saw him win the French, I was happy for him because he deserved it. He’s worked so hard for these moments.”

Zverev and Alcaraz will form the heartbeat of Noah’s Team Europe Laver Cup team as they look to get revenge for last year’s defeat against Team World in a competition that gets underway on Friday in London.

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