Alexander Zverev fell in his Wimbledon opener against Arthur Rinderknech.
On Tuesday, Alexander Zverev made his Wimbledon debut by facing Arthur Rinderknech and suffered a surprising five-set loss that knocked him out of the tournament early. The German star made a troubling admission about this moment in his career.
I’ve never felt this empty before,” Zverev said in his post-match press conference, shared by the official website of the ATP Tour. “Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.”
Expanding on that thought, Alexander later added: “I don’t think tennis is the problem right now for me. It’s something else that I have to find within me at the moment. But something within me has to change, which is not necessarily on the tennis court.”
Zverev was then asked whether this situation calls for working with mental health professionals, and he offered a candid response. “Maybe for the first time in my life I’ll probably need it. It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally. I don’t know. It’s difficult to find joy outside the tennis court for me at the moment.”
Finally, he made it clear that his personal struggles should not overshadow Rinderknech’s performance. “It’s not an excuse or anything. I think Arthur deserved to win today,” the World No. 3 acknowledged. “It’s something I’ve felt for the past few months. Again, I just feel generally very, very alone and very lonely. I don’t know. Just never felt that way before.”
Zverev’s impressive streak comes to an end
Before Tuesday’s loss to Rinderknech, Zverev had gone six years without a first-round exit in a Grand Slam tournament. The last time he had been eliminated in the opening round was in 2019—also at Wimbledon—when he lost in straight sets to Jiri Vesely.
Since then, Alexander had made 20 consecutive Grand Slam appearances—across the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open—reaching at least the second round in every one. And while he never managed to win a title, he did reach six semifinals and three finals.
Tuesday’s defeat, however, carries a much different weight for Alexander than the one back in 2019. Six years ago, he was just 22 years old and still a rising star who had yet to reach the semifinals of a major tournament. This time, he arrived at Wimbledon as the No. 3 seed and faced the World No. 72, making the loss far more striking.