The German is now venturing into an unwanted part of history, with Zverev continued his Grand Slam drought.

Although Zverev was on the wrong end of the result, his compatriot believes he did improve something in the Australian Open final.

Andrea Petkovic says people cannot say Alexander Zverev hasn’t listened to criticism

Zverev believes he served better than Sinner in the Australian Open final, but could not compete in other areas of his game.

The world number two lost against Carlos Alcaraz in the final of Roland Garros last year, despite being two sets to one up.

After this match Zverev was accused of not being aggressive enough, but former top 10 player Andrea Petkovic believes that he got better at this throughout the Australian Open final.

Petkovic suggested that Zverev was just outplayed by Sinner and does not deserve the same criticism again.

“The case I am making for Zverev and why I am making it is that everything we have reproached him with – we as in experts, as in Roger [Federer] and Boris Becker have talked about it,” Petkovic said on Rennae Stubbs’ podcast. “The thing they say about Zverev is that he is too passive in big matches.

“He goes back behind the baseline and pushes the ball and tries to outlast the guys and it never works because from quarter and semi-finals on they are too good.

“This is the case I am making for him and why I was impressed with him in a way. He hit the ball 10ks an hour in the first set and up to 15ks faster in the second set. He was closer to the baseline by a metre.
So he has taken those critiques from players who has won grand slams and tried to be more aggressive.

“He knows that against Jannik Sinner it probably won’t be enough to be behind the baseline and retrieve. Everybody said he needs to have a great serving day, in terms of he needs to be between 70 and 80% – he had 83%. My argument is that he was just outplayed. He tried the right things.

“When he does go forward more he misses, but because it’s not his game yet. He might get there. We can’t do this, we can’t critique him for being passive and then when he does the opposite critique him for being the opposite. We can’t do that.

“That’s why I say I am impressed with him. He is doing the right things and maybe it will come or maybe it won’t but he is taking the critiques to heart and trying to work on it. I really have to say I like that about him.”

What did Roger Federer say about Alexander Zverev

Federer was one of those to criticise Zverev after the Roland Garros final, suggesting that he was too passive in the biggest moments.

“I see someone who’s playing much too passively, much too defensively when it matters the most,” said Federer.

“I think (Zverev) has to remind himself to try to not be too passive and then I think honestly something really great can happen for him.”

This could also be applicable to the 2020 US Open final, where Zverev led by two sets to love against Dominic Thiem before losing in a fifth set tie-break.

Zverev will look to continue working on his aggressiveness when his attention turns to the South American clay courts at upcoming tournaments in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.

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