Boris Becker believes Germany’s top player Alexander Zverev exited early at the ATP Finals in part due to a “mental block.”
Zverev lost to Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-7 (4-7) on Friday and missed out on a possible semi-final against Spanish world number one Carlos Alcaraz.
“I am not a psychologist, I cannot see what it looks like inside him. But that had less to do with tennis,” Becker told Sky TV about the world number three’s shaky displays, above all in the second set of the final group match in Turin.
Zverev was “almost totally cramped” at the end, the 57-year-old said. “He did not cope with the pressure, with the expectations.”
The 2021 Olympic champion has won this end-of-season tournament twice before but he again flattered to deceive at the grand slams this year. His only Tour triumph came at the home tournament in April in Munich.
One chance remains for Zverev to end the season on a positive note at the Davis Cup finals next week in Bologna. He wants to lead the German team to a first triumph since 1993.