Alexander Zverev can benefit from wakeup call at Cincinnati Masters
Alexander Zverev suffered a shocking loss at the 2017 Cincinnati Masters, but that may have been the best possible outcome leading up to the US Open.
No player has been more of a pleasant surprise during the 2017 ATP season than Alexander Zverev. The 20-year-old phenom has built upon a promising 2016 campaign to achieve his status as one of the Top 10 players in the world.
Coming off of the most dominant run of his budding career, however, Zverev was given something of a rude awakening at the 2017 Cincinnati Masters.
Zverev was riding a 10-match winning streak entering Cincinnati. He’d won back-to-back titles, including his most recent feat: A 2017 Rogers Cup run that culminated with him decisively defeating Roger Federer in the Final.
In his first match since defeating Federer, however, Zverev was shocking upset by fellow rising star Frances Tiafoe: 6-4, 4-6, 3-6.
And the crowd goes wild!@FTiafoe snaps Zverev's 10 match win streak to make @CincyTennis R16.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/3gnJIyqToQ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 16, 2017
Truth be told, that loss to Tiafoe may have been the best thing that’s ever happened to Zverev from a pure tennis perspective.
Zverev was inevitably riding high after winning both the Citi Open and the Rogers Cup. They were his fourth and fifth ATP titles of 2017, and resulted in his rise to a career-best ranking of No. 7 on the World Tour rankings.
Rather than going into the 2017 US Open with his ego inflated, however, Zverev will instead have a harsh reminder floating around in his mind.
No matter how talented or successful he may be, all it takes is one lazy point for an opponent to gain enough confidence to pull off an upset.
The reason this is such an important moment in Zverev’s career is that he’s never once experienced a deep Grand Slam run. He reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, but has yet to reach the quarterfinal at any of the four major tournaments.
With a trip to Flushing Meadows mere days away, Zverev can prepare with a crucial thought in mind: Anyone can be defeated at the highest possible level.
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Come the 2017 US Open, the most promising young player on the ATP World Tour will have the most invaluable trait of all: Perspective.
Alexander Zverev can only go up from his shocking loss at the 2017 Cincinnati Masters.