Alexander Zverev says he's playing "worst tennis" after loss to Daniil Medvedev at Italian Open

Alexander Zverev reflected on his recent slump in form and admitted that he is currently playing the "worst tennis" of his career following his defeat to Daniil Medvedev at the 2023 Italian Open.

During the fourth round of the Italian ATP 1000 tournament, Zverev faced Medvedev for the third time this season. The German lost the contest in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(3).

Zverev's last season came to a crushing end in the semifinals of the French Open, where he faced off against Rafael Nadal. Unfortunately, Zverev's hopes were dashed when he suffered a severe injury to his right ankle, tearing three ligaments after a painful and awkward slide.

Alexander Zverev made his return to the court in January 2023 but he is yet to achieve any significant result. His best performance so far has been reaching the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The former World No. 2 has struggled to defend the points he earned as a semifinalist in Monte-Carlo and Rome, as well as the runner-up in Madrid in 2022.

During a recent conversation with Sky Sports Deutschland, Alexander Zverev discussed his poor form and expressed his dissatisfaction with early exits from tournaments, and acknowledged that such outcomes are not favorable to him.

“I'm still 1000 kilometers away. To say you're back you have to win at least once and I don't do that. I'm out earlier than I would like to be. I'm kind of not able to go any further in the tournament right now,” Zverev said.

The 26-year-old stated that the key to improving his current slump in form is to secure victories in both matches and tournaments. Zverev also acknowledged that he is currently playing the worst tennis of his career since 2015-2016.

“I have to win and then that will solve it. I don't know what to say anymore. At the moment this year I'm probably playing the worst tennis since 2015, 2016.”

Daniil Medvedev declares truce with Alexander Zverev after Monte-Carlo conflict

Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev BNP Paribas Open

Daniil Medvedev has put aside his differences with Alexander Zverev following a contentious exchange of words last month at Monte-Carlos Masters.

However, the Russian hasn't thought about the possibility of a renewed feud if they were to cross paths again in the future.

"Talking about Monte-Carlo [incident], we talked about it afterwards, so I think everything is fine. Yeah, seems like everything is fine for both of us. You know, I lost a match against Holger [Rune] when I was speaking about this incident, he lost a match against me. It happens," Medvedev said.

"So I think we're fine but it doesn't mean that if we're playing tomorrow, there's not going to be something. You never know. We're both competitors," he added.