Alexander Zverev Wasted a Chance

INDIAN WELLS, FRIDAY—Alexander Zverev had the best chance to top the men's singles world rankings when Jannik Sinner was out of action for two weeks on the ATP Tour. But Zverev squandered the opportunity by losing in the early rounds of the tournament.

One of the early defeats was experienced in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, California, United States, March 5-16, 2025. As one of the 32 seeds—Zverev was the first seed—the German tennis player was entitled to appear directly in the second round because he received a bye at the beginning. However, Zverev was immediately eliminated after being defeated by Tallon Griekspoor with a score of 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4) in the match on Friday (7/3/2025) afternoon local time or Saturday morning Indonesian time.

The defeat extended Zverev's poor run of form after being defeated by Sinner in the 2025 Australian Open Grand Slam final in January. In lower and mid-tier ATP tournaments, Zverev only reached the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 Buenos Aires and ATP 500 Rio de Janeiro, and the second round of the ATP 500 Acapulco.

Those results were not enough to displace Sinner at the top of the rankings. Sinner has been out of tournament action for two months and Zverev has a great chance of taking his place.

Sinner was unable to play due to a suspension from February 9 to May 4 for a doping case a year ago. As a result, Sinner lost ranking points from the Indian Wells Masters semifinals and when he won the 2024 Miami Masters.

At first, I did think I was in that position (top ranking), but, now I'm not anymore because I played really bad.

Zverev actually rose fastest when competing with peers like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev on the ATP Next Gen program for players aged 21 and under. He won three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and the ATP Finals in the 20-21 age range.

However, his ability tends to stagnate by only relying on the game from the baseline. The achievements of the 27-year-old tennis player were overtaken by two younger players, namely Sinner (23 years old) and Carlos Alcaraz (21).

Sinner has three Grand Slam titles and Alcaraz has four. The top position in the world rankings was also achieved. Zverev actually had the opportunity to win the Grand Slam many times, but always lost in three finals.

In 2025, Zverev had one of the biggest and “easy” opportunities in his career, which was to become the world number one without having to win a Grand Slam first. However, he still couldn’t achieve it.

"At the beginning, I thought I was in that position (top ranking), but now I'm not anymore because I'm playing very bad. So, I have to find a way out first about the game because to be number one in the world, I have to win tournaments," Zverev said on the official ATP website.

He admitted that training after the Australian Open final was not as intense as before. Therefore, Zverev will use the time after being eliminated in Indian Wells to train harder for the next tournament, the Miami Masters on March 16-30.

For Griekspoor, the win over Zverev was his first after five consecutive defeats, four of which came in 2024. "The mental factor was very important. I fought against him many times, had chances to win, but lost. I am proud of my performance today," said the Dutchman.

In addition to Zverev, fourth seed Casper Ruud also suffered a second-round defeat. The Norwegian was eliminated by Marcos Giron 6-7 (4), 6-3, 2-6. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev advanced to the third round.

Alcaraz, the reigning champion for the past two years, will open his campaign on Saturday against Quentin Halys, while Novak Djokovic will face Botic van de Zandschulp on the same day.

In the women's singles competition at the same venue at the WTA 1000 level, Iga Swiatek began her title defense by defeating senior tennis player, Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 6-0. Although the score showed a landslide score, Swiatek said that the victory was not easy to get.

"The first match is always tough and I didn't know what to expect from Caro. I'm glad I was able to play solid from start to finish," Swiatek said.

Fourth seed Jessica Pegula also got off to a strong start against Magda Linette, winning 6-4, 6-2, while 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva beat Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-4 after trailing 0-4 in the second set.

In the women's doubles competition, Indonesian tennis player Aldila Sutjiadi won the first round with Hungarian tennis player Fanny Stollar on Thursday local time. They defeated the host representatives, Ashlyn Krueger/Pegula, 4-6, 6-1, 11-9.

For Aldila, WTA Indian Wells is the first tournament in 2025 because her health condition has prevented her from appearing since the beginning of the year. She experienced sudden deafness in December 2024, which disrupted her balance.

With that condition, Aldila missed the Australian Open Grand Slam. After undergoing treatment, including hyperbaric therapy, Aldila was only able to enter the WTA Tour in March.

"This win means a lot to me, especially after I had to postpone the 2025 tour due to health conditions in late 2024. This result also convinces me that I am ready to pursue better achievements in 2025," said Aldila, who will face Tereza Mihalikova/Olivia Nicholls in the second round. (AFP)