Alexander Zverev turned himself into the kind of player who could win high-end (but not Grand Slams) tournaments a long time ago. No matter the surface, he could be dangerous. Still, his best surface statistically has been clay, which is why his second-round match at the Monte-Carlo Masters was so shocking.
Facing Cristian Garin, a former No. 17 on the ATP tour but currently ranked outside the top 100, the German dropped the first set 6-4, which clearly wasn't the end of the match. Sets are lost all the time, of course, and when Zverev, the three-seed in Monte-Carlo, came back to win set two, all seemed right again.
That is when the third set began as a complete mess for the ATP No. 3. Garin held, then broke Zverev, and repeated that in the next two games. The German suddenly found himself down 0-4 and was looking at making plans for after Monte-Carlo far sooner than expected.
Alexander Zverev turned a loss into a victory against Cristian Garin at the Monste-Carlo Masters
What makes Zverev's history at the tournament so strange is that he is quite good on clay, but had only made it past the third round twice in nine tries before 2026. Maybe something about being on the clay in the ward becomes a bit of a mental block.
The situation in 2026, though, is that Alexander Zverev actually found a way to reach round three. After dropping the first four games of the third set, he was able to get a hold and one of the breaks back. Garin got another hold and pushed to 5-2, but he appeared to be tightening, likely understanding that defeating Zverev would be a major achievement.
Throughout the match, Zverev had played exceptionally poorly compared to his normal form. He often plays efficient tennis, but against Garin, he managed 24 winners but 46 unforced errors. Garin's ratio worsened as the match went on and finished with 17 winners but 44 unforced errors.
Zverev has won 24 career titles for a reason. He knows how to work through his struggles from one game to the next. He suddenly stopped hitting so many unforced errors and let his serve dictate points. Meanwhile, Garin was stunningly and completely falling apart, dropping five straight games to close the match. The German won the third set 7-5 after a long, tight final game.
Alexander Zverev will next play Zizou Bergs in the third round, a matchup few tennis fans would have predicted before the Monte-Carlo Masters, as Bergs has had to defeat Adrian Mannarino and Andrey Rublev to get to round three. Zverev will be favored, but he needs to play better than he did for most of the match against Garin.