London (Reuters)
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev expected to form with Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev the “Big Three” in the world of tennis in 2022.
Germany’s Zverev beat Djokovic on his way to Olympic gold and ended the year by winning the ATP Finals title for the second time.
Djokovic has won three of four grand slam titles this year, but arch-rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have failed to add any new titles to their grand slam treasury, with the trio currently on a record 20 grand slam titles each.
World number two Medvedev beat Djokovic in the US Open final, while Zverev has also reached the semi-finals twice this year at the Grand Slam.
Before the start of the new season, Federer, 40, is still recovering from knee surgery, while Nadal, 35, is still struggling to come back from a foot injury.
“I think next year will be similar to the last six months of this year,” Zverev, who won the German Sports Personality of the Year award this week, told his country’s media. And Wimbledon, which were all won by Medvedev and Djokovic, and I expect the situation to be different next year.”
Zverev finished the year third in the world rankings and believes that topping the rankings has become a legitimate goal that can be achieved.
“I know I’m still far away, and I have to win major championships and titles,” he said.
In theory, 24-year-old Zverev could become the top seed if he wins the Australian Open and Djokovic misses the tournament due to his stance on vaccination against Covid-19.
The player added, “Novak’s position on the Australian Championship still raises question marks. Of course I hope to let him play, and there are thousands of arithmetic operations, if Djokovic does not play in Australia and I win her title, I will become number one in the world.”
“I think it is not the right time to think about being number one, especially since the current circumstances prevent us from preparing in the best way physically,” he added.
Zverev’s lack of grand slam titles has surprised some but he is now a major threat after initially failing to make his mark.
He said, “I became calmer and more mature, and I’m no longer 18 or 19 years old, I started to understand life better and be calm in difficult situations, this helped me a lot this year.”
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