2018 had a fantastic ending for tennis player Alexander Zverev when he won the ATP Finals, beating Novak Djokovic in the final. Now he needs to build on that result and win his first ever Grand Slam tournament.
Young Prospect
Zverev could well be the future of world tennis as he’s only 21 years of age. In fact, he’s the only player in the top seven who’s under the age of 30. He won four titles in 2018 but if you look at his record in Grand Slam events, a different picture begins to appear.
The year ended with Zverev in fourth place in the rankings but that doesn’t quite tell the story of his year. He’s only just behind Roger Federer in terms of points earned but a fair way behind world number one Novak Djokovic and second-ranked Rafael Nadal, plus his points tally comes from more tournaments.
Five-Set Failure
The German only reached one Grand Slam quarter final this year and that was at the French Open. A rather staggering fact considering his high ranking, is that his appearance at the last eight in France is the only time he’s ever reached the last eight of a Grand Slam event.
His best performance at the Australian Open is the third round (2017/18). At Wimbledon, he made the fourth-round last year and at the US Open, 2018 saw him reach the third round for the first time ever.
It’s an appalling record for someone ranked fourth in the world but hopefully his recent London success will give him something to build on. He beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in successive days to win that title. Now he has to learn how to win five-set matches on a regular basis. The odds of him winning one Grand Slam in 2019 are 9/4 at SkyBet.
