“Zverev is the favorite at the Australian Open,” surprisingly said a former US star

Alexander Zverev played a Slam final at the 2021 edition of the US Open, losing after five hard-fought sets against Dominic Thiem but, according to Coco Vandeweghe’s prediction, the German is the favorite to win the Australian Open 2024. A few days before the start of the Melbourne Major, the former American tennis player, semi-finalist of the Australian Open in 2017 and currently an analyst for TennisChannel, revealed her sensational prediction for the 2024 edition of the Happy Slam.

When asked who could be the winner of the first Major of the year, the 32-year-old American answered without doubt: Alexander Zverev. Coco in fact questioned the conditions of Rafael Nadal (before his withdrawal from the Australian Open – ed-) and Novak Djokovic, commenting that in her opinion the Spaniard is not yet in a state of form to be able to compete for an event of this magnitude, while on ATP No.1 he hypothesized that the wrist injury suffered during the United Cup could affect his progress.

Zverev© Graham Denholm / Stringer Getty Images Sport

Vandeweghe kept Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev, among the tennis players most credited with final success according to critics and bookmakers, out of her analysis, thus proposing a new slam champion.

Alexander Zverev’s words after the United Cup victory

Germany’s win at the United Cup was a real feat. Qualification for the quarter-finals obtained at the last minute as the best second among the teams that played in Sydney. Match points saved by Angelique Kerber in the semifinal against Ajla Tomljanovic. The two championship points forcefully canceled by Alexander Zverev from Hubert Hurkacz in the last act of the tournament. And also the memorable mixed doubles matches.

The German team had to overcome a number of challenges to beat Poland in the final and win the second edition of the United Cup. “I think this format, especially after playing six matches in the last three days, is probably more complicated than a Slam. In a Slam you could play five sets, it’s true, but you always have a day of rest to recover. You don’t have time here. Yesterday I went to sleep around 05:30 in the morning (local time). Mentally it is a difficult event to manage. Seeing this trophy and my teammates, however, I am convinced that it was worth it. We are really happy,” Zverev declared in the press conference.

Kerber, who has rediscovered the joy of competing and winning a trophy on the ATP Tour: “I couldn’t have imagined a better return. I played five tough matches and I had no idea the conditions I would find myself in. Yesterday I felt great on the pitch. It was ten fantastic days. That’s all I was missing. I missed playing in front of the crowd. Representing Germany, especially with such a special team, is always an honor. Now I know where I stand before the Australian Open. We have to be proud of the way we played, especially Sascha Zverev.”