Alexander Zverev says if he thinks tennis is better now compared to the era of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Alexander Zverev thinks tennis has improved since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Ahead of that match, the German was tasked with turning his mind back to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2018.

Asked to compare that era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to this, he said: “Yeah, I mean, back then, it’s a more complicated question because back then the Slams were kind of set.

“Australia, Novak was winning. Roland Garros was kind of Rafa’s Slam to lose. Wimbledon it was always between Roger and Novak. There was not maybe as many openings.

“That does not mean that tennis is worse now. I think tennis got better. I think tennis got quicker, faster, more physical.

“But I think, yeah, the players were kind of thinking that way where, you know, the first three years of the slams were set and the only one to play for was kind of the US Open maybe a little bit.

“At the same time, the last two years all four majors were going to Sinner and Alcaraz all the time. Maybe it changes this year.

“I hope it changes this year, of course. But it’s just different to compare and to think about. I think, I mean, I talked about it a lot last year.

“I think the surfaces got much more similar to each other, where, you know, anybody can beat anyone on every surface, where back then it wasn’t the case.

“Yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see how the next few years play out. I think the last two years showed us that Carlos and Jannik are dominating. Maybe it’s going to change.”

What is Alexander Zverev’s Grand Slam finals history?

It has indeed been a time of dominance for Sinner and Alcaraz in recent years, with the duo each winning four of the last eight Grand Slams.

Zverev has twice come close to breaking that trend, losing the 2024 French Open final to the latter before that Melbourne heartbreak to the former.

Their dominance arrives immediately after similar success for the Big Three of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

Again, Zverev came agonisingly close to sharing in that success, but he lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem.

He now has a great chance to right that wrong, but young ATP star Tien has just knocked out Daniil Medvedev for the second year running.

Tien secured a five-set victory over the Russian veteran this time last year, but has just beaten him 6-4, 6-0, 6-3.