By Richard Pagliaro
Alexander Zverev asserts his motivation to win a maiden major is stronger—and his level of play is higher—than it was when he came within two points of capturing the 2020 US Open title.
Zverev out-dueled Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6 in the Acapulco final to collect his 14th career title on Saturday.
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Reflecting on his agonizing five-set loss to Dominic Thiem in the US Open final where he served for the title at 5-3 in the final set and was deadlocked at 6-all in the first final set tiebreaker in US Open men's final history only to fall short, Zverev said that defeat has deepened his desire.
"That loss made me in a way even hungrier. I was two points away from winning my first Grand Slam title at the US Open, but I didn't in the end of the day," Zverev told the media in his Miami Open pre-tournament presser. "You have to look at those things, as well. In a way this year I feel like I'm more motivated than ever to do well.
"I'm trying to improve every single aspect of the game to give myself the best chance that I can have. I feel like I'm building towards that. I feel like I'm taking the right steps towards that. We'll see how the rest of the year goes."
The seventh-ranked German pushed world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to four tough sets before bowing in the Australian Open quarterfinals last month and believes his level in Melbourne was higher than the performance he delivered in New York.
"I actually think I was actually playing better in Australia, as well," Zverev said. "I just lost to Novak in a tough match, which obviously he's a great champion, so that can happen.
"I can definitely see an improvement. I hope I can still continue this improvement because there's still a lot of things in my game that I want to get better at."
Which major represents Zverev's best Slam shot?
"I would like to win them all," Zverev said. "I mean, my best chance would be one of the hard court or clay court, right? I think the French or US Open this year is kind of more realistic than Wimbledon for me probably in a way just on how comfortable I feel on the surfaces maybe.
"Which one would I like to win the most? That would be probably Wimbledon, yeah. It's also how comfortable you feel. I mean, I'm looking forward to the next weeks. I'm not trying to think of the Grand Slams right now because the Grand Slams are kind of still in the near future but they're still a little bit far away."
Photo credit: US Open Facebook