With Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz being out of the French Open equation, Alexander Zverev has emerged as the consensus favourite for the claycourt Slam. Now, former World No. 1 Andy Roddick has also shared his two cents on the German’s prospects at lifting a maiden Grand Slam.
Speaking during an episode of his Served podcast, Roddick shared an interesting take on Zverev. He opined that the German had reshaped his game in recent times in a bid to overcome the specific challenges that he faced against Sinner and Alcaraz the two biggest hurdles in his pursuit of a Grand Slam.
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Roddick said that Zverev had developed into a more aggressive players, coming into the net more often, hitting bigger groundstrokes in order to counter the ‘Big 2’. He said it would be interesting to watch him adapt in their absence.
“With Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz [out of the picture], I think that’s just what it’s going to be like… Alexander Zverev is such a heavy favorite against a lucky loser like Jasper De Jung, like, there’s only a downside of that matchup,” Andy Rodrick said.
“I was kind of wondering something last night as I was sitting there thinking about this tournament,” he added. “It’s funny, Alexander Zverev has been working on being more aggressive with his game, right, like serving, volleying, or first-strike tennis a little bit more. But that’s all to try to beat Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.”
The American was quick to recall the “old” Zverev who relied on his big serve and heavy forehand, saying only time could tell if he would fall back to that style going forward at the French Open.
“It’s like an interesting thing where it’s like I wanted him to go back to the the thing that he’s so good at, creating a little height on that forehand and just holding serve all the time,” Andy Roddick said. “Does he revert back to that now that the guys are out of the tournament? Let’s see as he will be facing a little bit more power in the next match against Rafael Jodar.”
Alexander Zverev three wins away from French Open title
With the exit of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s absence from the French Open, Alexander Zverev has a clear path to a maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open. Already in the quarterfinals, he is only three wins away from lifting the trophy.
The German began his campaign with convincing straight-sets wins over Benjamin Bonzi and Tomas Machac. A former finalist at the claycourt Slam, he then battled past Frenchman Quentin Halys and lucky loser Jesper De Jong to book his spot in the quarterfinals.
Zvervev will next take on the fast-rising Rafael Jodar, his first seeded opponent at this year’s tournament. The likes of Joao Fonseca, Jakub Mensik and Felix Auger Aliassime and Matteo Berrettini loom ahead for the German.
Edited by Vedant Chandel