"Literally in Novak Djokovic's half"; "3 guys who can win, he's not one of them"- Fans ridicule Alexander Zverev's "most open Wimbledon" assessment

Alexander Zverev believes that he has a chance of winning the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, despite having a poor record at the grasscourt Major. According to the German, the ongoing edition of the grass-court Major is the most open one in the last two decades. However, Zverev's take has been blatantly ridiculed by tennis fans.

Zverev is widely regarded as one of the best modern-day players in men's tennis to not have won any Grand Slam titles. The German has come close though, that too on two occasions. His first shot at winning a Major was at the 2020 US Open, where he inexplicably lost to Dominic Thiem despite establishing a two-sets-to-love advantage over the Austrian.

More recently, the German reached the final of this year's French Open. Once again, Zverev seemed to be on course to win his maiden Grand Slam title, having established a two-sets-to-one lead over Carlos Alcaraz. However, the Spaniard would end up winning the final, with Zverev finishing as a Major finalist for the second time in his career.

Ahead of his first-round match against Roberto Carballes Baena at SW19 this year, Alexander Zverev said that he felt he could win the prestigious grass-court Major. The World No. 4 also opined that this year's Wimbledon was the "most open" the tournament has been in the last 20 years.

"First time that I feel like I’m here to maybe win the title..I also do think this is the most open Wimbledon that we maybe have in 20 yrs. There’s multiple guys who have a decent chance of going deep & very decent chance of winning the tournament," Alexander Zverev said during a pre-tournament press conference.

Many fans on X (formerly Twitter) found Zverev's take amusing, and proceeded to blatantly ridicule the German. One set of fans opined that Alexander Zverev had no chance of winning considering the fact that seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, and the newly-crowned World No. 1 Jannik Sinner were all playing.

The German is in the second half of the gentlemen's singles draw, which also features Djokovic.

"He's literally in Novak's half, in Wimbledon of all tournaments, in what universe is that "open"?" a fan asked.

"Why does he think it is wide open when the top 3 seeds are Alcaraz, Novak and Sinner?" asked another fan.

"Three guys who can win it and he's not one of them," another fan chimed in.

Another set of fans pointed to past Grand Slams where Alexander Zverev talked up his own chances of success but failed to deliver when it has mattered most.

"Feels like a classic Zverev thing by now to talk up his chances of going deep/winning & say it’s so wide open anyone can win. Well known to be the “I’ll put myself in there” player for those videos on TennisTV. Lot of talking himself up for someone yet to make a deep Wimby run," one fan wrote.

"This means he's losing early," another fan commented.

"Good luck to the other multiple guys," wrote another fan, sarcastically.

Alexander Zverev has never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev has made at least the semifinals across the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. However, his past outings at Wimbledon have never quite gone according to plan.

The World No. 4's joint-best finishes at SW19 came in 2017 and 2021. On both occasions, he reached the fourth round, before losing to Milos Raonic and Felix Auger-Aliassime respectively.

The German's current Wimbledon campaign marks his eighth SW19 appearance, and he will be desperate to improve his record at the prestigious grasscourt Major. If he manages to get past Roberto Carballes Baena, he will face either British wildcard Henry Searle or American Marcos Giron.