Boris Becker makes tough verdict on Zverev: "Hasn't developed further"

Alexander Zverev is at a career low. Boris Becker, who made a harsh judgement of the 26-year-old, is also concerned about this.

Hamburg - Alexander Zverev was once considered a hot contender for the Grand Slam title, but the 26-year-old has been looking for his form for a long time. It was not until 2021 that he won gold at the Olympics - including a semi-final victory against Novak Djokovic - and was voted Germany's Sportsman of the Year in the same year. After that, however, nothing followed for a long time. Tennis legend Boris Becker recently criticized Zverev for his career break.

Boris Becker looks at Zverev's career low: "You get the impression that he hasn't developed further"

Becker, who was released from prison in England in mid-December, is now working again for the sports channel Eurosport. Recently, he was a guest on the podcast of the channel 'Das Gelbe vom Ball' and also spoke about the current crisis with Alexander Zverev, who is experiencing a career low. "Tennis changes every 18 months. That means you always have to improve accordingly," said the six-time Grand Slam winner.

"You get the impression that he hasn't developed further and the opponents know exactly how to play against Sascha in 2023. That's a problem!" said Becker. That's why Zverev now has to "look in the rear-view mirror, and unfortunately he is being overtaken a bit by the younger ones," according to the tennis icon's assessment. Born in Hamburg, he dropped to 22nd place in the world rankings, in the meantime he ranked second.

Boris Becker (left) criticized Alexander Zverev, who is at a career low. © Eibner/imagi

Boris Becker on Zverev's situation: "The competition never sleeps"

Becker, who recently moved to Italy, went on to talk about the young upstarts in world tennis. "They will play for Grand Slams in the future. That's the problem. You have a window of time in your career when you have to win the first Grand Slams, because the competition never sleeps," he warned his compatriot Zverev, who will enter the Masters in Rome on Friday.

"For various reasons", Zverev, who has only been able to reach one Grand Slam final so far, was not enough to make the big leap, Becker said, citing the injury of the Olympic champion from last year as the main reason. "The most important thing is that the foot holds and he can complete his tournament plan as he has planned," Becker wishes.

The 55-year-old is certain: "He knows what to do to play better and win tournaments again. He didn't forget it overnight." However, Zverev now has to "turn every screw" to build on past times. (SID/AJR)