Why is Alexander Zverev struggling? Looking into the German's shocking form struggles in Jannik Sinner's absence

Alexander Zverev won six matches in the first month of the year, but since then, he has only won six more, which isn’t good because he's a player who was expected to continue to ascend. So, what happened?

As with anything tennis-related, it’s not merely as simple as he stopped playing well. There are a multitude of factors that impacted both his performances and the overall landscape of tennis. We’re going to cover some of the things that likely contributed to Zverev falling off quite a bit.

Zverev arrived in Monte-Carlo as the No. 1 seed. While he wasn’t expected to win because of his rather poor form, people expected some response from him. This was, after all, a place he knew very well and where he made some deep runs.

Yet it ended in a rather disappointing second-round loss, his first match at the event. It was yet another disappointment in a long list of them. Zverev had opened the season well, winning two matches at the United Cup and making the Australian Open final.

While he wasn’t competitive against Jannik Sinner in that final, it was still a good start for the German, who was coming off a pretty poor second half of 2024. Starting the year the way he did was a good sign for him. But it didn’t last. He fell off sharply. Opting to go to South America, Zverev played in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.

He won some matches there but overall didn’t impress with his results. It was on clay, so not a major surprise, considering that it’s a surface where you need a bit of time to get used to it. Zverev might have grown up on it, but it still takes time for him to do well.

His poor performances didn’t change once he moved over to hardcourts. Acapulco was pretty poor, as were the Indian Wells and Miami Masters and now the loss in Monte-Carlo. He went 8-1 in the first month of the season — January. Since then, Zverev played in six events over two months and gone 6-6.

Now, that’s not a historic drop-off, but it’s certainly notable. So, exactly what's going on? The simple truth is that he’s playing terribly.

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Alexander Zverev is playing terrible tennis

Miami Open Presented by Itau 2025 - Day 9 - Source: Getty

Much like Carlos Alcaraz, who is the other player many expected to take a step forward in the absence of Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev has massively struggled lately. It doesn’t have so much to do with other players stepping up because, while some did, like Jack Draper and Jakub Mensik, neither has utterly dominated.

Both had one breakout event, and Zverev didn’t really face either of them. His struggles mostly have to do with him not delivering on the court as he can. It’s something he’s well aware of, and his quotes have reflected that. He said after Indian Wells that he was playing terribly.

“I’m playing terrible” - Zverev said after Indian Wells

He had a similar quote after losing early in Miami, essentially saying that he has to look at himself.

“I have to look at myself.” - Zverev after the Miami Open

Zverev hasn’t figured it out yet because he again lost early in Monte-Carlo. Against a good player, he showed some life but still not good enough. He said that he needs to win again while noting that things can turn around quickly.

“I definitely need to win some matches. It can change quickly.” - Zverev after losing to Berrettini

This is true because the only good thing about his recent struggles is that things indeed can change rather quickly. He can essentially start playing superb tennis out of nowhere, and it might even happen in Munich, where he has played in the past couple of years, though without too much success.

Madrid could be another place where he could turn it around because he’s a former champion there who made some finals as well. The point is to get ready for the French Open, where he has been a standout performer for many years. None of these events matter all that much in the grand scheme of things for Zverev.

These recent struggles might simply be part of the natural ebb-and-flow nature of the tennis season. It might be something else, but only time will show what it truly is. He knows that he himself is the problem, which is the first step: identifying the problem.

Now that Zverev knows what his issue is; he can work on it, and with time, he will figure it out. He’s too talented of a player to not figure out how to play well again, but these two months have been certainly a warning sign for him.