Alexander Zverev joins the ‘smart’ movement, aiming to mirror Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Alexander Zverev has opened his clay season with back-to-back semi-final appearances, but there’s a sense that he still hasn’t hit top form.

He hasn’t reached a final in 2026 yet and doesn’t look like a serious threat for titles at the moment.

Zverev has all the physical tools and technical skills needed to compete for major honours, yet he remains largely uncompetitive when it comes to challenging Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Zverev isn’t the only player trying to close the gap on Alcaraz and Sinner. Daniil Medvedev has recently teamed up with Lorenzo Musetti in an attempt to better prepare for them.

Even Rafael Nadal admitted before his exit from Madrid that it would take more than just one tournament win to catch up with their level of play.

Alexander Zverev responds following semi-final defeat in Munich

Speaking to the media after his loss, Zverev tried to explain why the match ended up so one-sided. Zverev had been comfortably beaten by a player who was yet to claim a top-ten win in his career, discounting retirements.

Zverev put much of it down to fatigue, explaining: “Yes, but I must also say, my legs were no longer there. I have played a lot of tennis; fortunately for me, I have played good tennis. Yesterday, also again today, I had a very difficult match. Today, if you are then 10/20% slower and he plays well, the match gets difficult.”

The German feels that some time off will help him reset before heading into Madrid: “I think a few days off would also be really helpful. I have them now. I have six days until my next match. That’s more than I’ve had in the last few months. That’s why I think this has already been helpful, to use them wisely, and then hopefully in Madrid I’ll be fresher.

“I think I really need to rest myself. I think Carlos and Jannik make smart decisions, that they do not play every week, even if it’s Masters tournaments, even if there may be tournaments at home.

“The main goal is in Paris, to show the best tennis. I think that I am now in good shape. I have also played well the last few weeks. I think that I have also shown good tennis here, I must of course also remember my game plan.”

Zverev’s struggle to close out the semi-finals

As mentioned earlier, Zverev has already lost two semi-finals this clay-court season, and five overall in 2026. But this stretch of poor form actually dates back much further than that. The 28-year-old has now lost nine of his last ten tour-level semi-finals.

Six of those losses have come against either Alcaraz or Sinner, which provides some context for the numbers.

Zverev has openly discussed shifting his approach this year, hoping that a more aggressive style will help him break through at the Grand Slam level.

It’s starting to feel like his real challenge might be more about mental resilience than tactics. Until he gets a grip on that side of things, progress could remain slow.

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