Zverev reveals the "most annoying" opponent he has ever faced

(Dan Tri) - Alexander Zverev has revealed the "most annoying" tennis player he has ever faced and also named the opponent who made him feel "like a complete fool".

Alexander Zverev is the top seed at the 2025 Canadian Open after Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz missed out, seeking his second title of the year following his win at the ATP 500 in Munich in April. The German, a seven-time Masters 1000 champion and winner of the Canadian Open in Montreal in 2017, spoke candidly about his opponents and the matches he missed in his career.

Zverev is the number one seed at the Canadian Open (Photo: Getty).

During an interview on the podcast "Nothing Major" with former American tennis stars John Isner, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, Zverev did not hesitate to name Daniil Medvedev as the "most annoying" opponent he has ever faced.

“For me, the most obvious answer is Daniil Medvedev. Honestly, I’ve lost to him like 78 times (laughs). Even now, I’m ranked number three in the world and he’s ranked – I don’t know, number 14 – and I still lose to him in Halle. He becomes the ultimate Novak Djokovic every time he plays me and I ask myself: ‘I’m not even that bad. Why did I lose?’” Zverev said.

Zverev's head-to-head record against Medvedev is 7-13, having lost 12 of his last 14 meetings with the Russian. In Toronto, Zverev was leading 6-4, 1-0 in his fourth-round match against Francisco Cerundolo when the Argentine was forced to retire.

Zverev also revealed Cerundolo was another opponent giving him trouble ahead of their match in Canada.

“I'll tell you about Cerundolo. I'm 0-3 against him and I've only won one set in three matches. All on clay, but twice in Madrid," Zverev said.

“I lost four matches in Madrid in my career, two of them to him. And both were straight sets. I felt like an idiot, not knowing what I was doing,” the German added.

Medvedev becomes a formidable opponent for Zverev (Photo: Getty).

When asked by Querrey to choose the worst match of his career, Zverev had a humorous and straightforward answer.

Zverev said: “I think every match this year (laughs). There are a few matches that I remember. There was a period when I couldn’t even serve twice on court. For about a year and a half, I was making about 20 double faults per match.

But one of the worst matches last year, he's going to hate me for it, but I played my compatriot in Acapulco. I played Daniel Altmaier. It was the worst tennis match I've ever played in my entire life.

You know, it was one of those matches where your serve is off, your forehand is terrible, and my forehand is always bad, but that day it was terrible. I couldn't volley, I couldn't do anything. It was a horrible match.”

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/zverev-tiet-lo-doi-thu-kho-chiu-nhat-tung-doi-dau-20250804085756227.htm