Alexander Zverev angrily pushed open the door towards the players’ exit at Arthur Ashe Stadium and stomped off in a blue shirt with the words “NYC” on it. This trip to New York City for the US Open also ended in great frustration for the 2021 Olympic champion instead of the longed-for first Grand Slam trophy. “That was just bottomless of me today,” he complained about the 6:7 (2:7), 6:3, 4:6, 6:7 (3:7) against the American Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals and was completely at a loss. “I have no answers.”

After leaving the press conference, Zverev left the TV cameras without saying a word and quickly disappeared from the facility. Just away. One realization accompanied him on the way back to Manhattan: the time to hunt for a title at the four biggest tournaments is slowly running out.

Farewell full of bitterness

“I’m 27 years old, I’ll be 28 next year,” said Zverev with bitterness in his voice. The next season will end with respectable Grand Slam results such as reaching the final of the French Open – “but I haven’t won one. I’m not interested in any of that.” In the past 25 years, only the Swiss Stan Wawrinka and the Croatian Goran Ivanisevic won their first Grand Slam title at an older age than Zverev currently is.

At his debut in a Grand Slam final four years ago at the US Open against Dominic Thiem, Zverev still lacked experience and two points. Sometimes he was stopped by a serious injury, such as the broken ankle at the 2022 French Open. Sometimes it was minor injuries before big matches. Sometimes the extra class of the new generation stood in the way, as in the lost final in five sets against Carlos Alcaraz at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris this summer.

Great opportunity wasted

But a completely deserved defeat against Fritz, ranked 12th in the world, who is now playing in a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time? Zverev was not hampered by a knee injury, as he was just two months ago when he lost to the American in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, but was in full possession of his strength. And all this at a time when Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, title winners of the past two years, had long since said goodbye to the tournament. “I haven’t been this angry for a long time,” admitted Zverev.

He tried to explain his “terrible” game by the fact that he didn’t have a backhand for the entire match. His signature shot, which he had repeatedly focused on during training sessions at the US Open. “I had no feeling in my racket, zero point zero,” complained Zverev. “It was unbelievable. I don’t know if I’ve ever had such a feeling with my backhand in my career.”

Above all, the Hamburg player lacked aggression in the sometimes long and spectacular rallies. Zverev was too passive and too cowardly in the decisive moments of the match, letting Fritz take the initiative in both tie-breaks that he clearly lost. The American, on the other hand, attacked his opponent’s serve early and successfully varied his own serve over the course of the match.

Becker: Like “with the handbrake”

“He seemed inhibited today, as if he was playing with the handbrake on. He was also pretty much at his limit physically,” said Boris Becker as an expert on Sportdeutschland.TV about Zverev. “The door to the final was open – and that may have slowed him down.” Even in a semifinal, the German number one would have been the clear favorite, as he was against Fritz.

After the US Open, he has moved up to at least third place in the world rankings and could even return to his all-time high of second place. Zverev has already qualified for the end of the season at the ATP Finals as the player with the most matches won this year.

Before that, he still has the Laver Cup in Berlin and tournaments in Asia from September 20th to 22nd. But all of this is pushed far into the background in view of the next big missed opportunity. He is “on the right track” and it feels like he is doing “all the right things,” Zverev said in his first few days in New York. “Hopefully it will happen soon.”