Carlos Alcaraz remains sidelined with a wrist injury and is all set to miss his title defense at this year’s French Open. Alexander Zverev took full advantage of Alcaraz’s absence with a run to the final at the Madrid Open, where he lost to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
The German has also started his Italian Open campaign strong, with dominant wins over Daniel Altmaier and Alexander Blockx.
Alexander Zverev Feels Carlos Alcaraz’s Injury Boosts Jannik Sinner’s Chances
After his 6-1, 6-4 win over Blockx in the third round on Sunday, Zverev weighed in on Alcaraz’s absence from the clay-court swing due to injury. The 29-year-old said that Alcaraz’s injury boosts Sinner’s chances of winning the French Open.
“The biggest difference is probably for Jannik because he’s now really the heavy favorite. Carlos on a clay court when he’s healthy, [is] equal or even above Jannik in favoritism just purely on a clay court, especially at Roland Garros, being a two-time champion there already,” he said during his post-match press conference on Sunday.
Zverev was also asked whether Alcaraz’s absence makes a difference to his hopes of making deeper runs at tournaments. But he responded that he is solely focused on continuing to improve and on defeating Sinner.
“But for me, I got to focus on the things that I can control and try to improve again to try to beat Jannik. That’s the important thing. You can’t talk about someone you might face in the finals before winning the first six matches. For me, it’s about focusing on the opponents in front of me at the moment,” he added.
Zverev has lost to Sinner four times over the last two months, and the two also appear to be on a collision course at the Italian Open. He has beaten the world No. 1 four times, but is currently on a nine-match losing streak against him.
A two-time champion in Rome, Zverev will hope to make another deep run at the Foro Italico this time around to generate some momentum ahead of the French Open, where he will look to win his first-ever Grand Slam. He has a strong record on clay, but has now gone 13 months without a title on the ATP Tour.
Zverev has made some strong runs this year, making the semifinals at all but one tournament he has competed in. Five of his eight losses this year have come against Alcaraz and Sinner.
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Next up for Zverev at the Italian Open is a fourth-round clash against Tommy Paul or Luciano Darderi on Tuesday.
