Tim Henman says what he really wants Alexander Zverev to start doing more often after watching him beat Casper Ruud at the ATP Finals

Posted by Admin November 14, 2024 Tennis

Tim Henman has encouraged Alexander Zverev to start doing one thing after he succeeded another ATP Finals win.

The German repelled the advances of Casper Ruud to win his second match at the season-ending championships and moved one step further to the semi-finals.

The 7-6(3), 6-3 scoreline means Zverev is now on a seven-match win streak and is looking very solid in Turin as he aims to secure his third title of the season.

His unbeaten run will be under a huge threat in his final round robin match against Carlos Alcaraz, with the Spaniard needing a win to have any chance of progressing to the final four.

What does Tim Henman want to see more from Alexander Zverev?

Alexander Zverev is known for his monstrous and solid baseline play, especially off the backhand side.

But during Zverev’s victory over Ruud in Turin, he finished more points coming forward. In fact, the 27-year-old went to the net 12 times and won each point.

Post-match, Tim Henman pointed this out and encouraged Zverev to do this more in matches moving forward.

“It’s very difficult to play against. Zverev was serving even more aggressively, something get up to the 230k’s and there’s not many opportunities to create break points,” Henman told Sky Sports.

“I like the way Zverev came forward, certainly on the back hand side, when the ball drops short he was a lot quicker moving forward on the back hand side than he is on the forehand.

“When he got to the net he really does show good technique for a tall man. He gets down to the ball well. I for one would like to see him do that a little bit more, come forward and finish points at the net.”

Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

Alexander Zverev takes Casper Ruud’s best shot at ATP Finals

Zverev and Ruud played one another after they each won their first ATP Finals round robin match.

Ruud produced an excellent performance to defeat Alcaraz in his first match, and he maintained his level against Zverev.

But he was unable to make any inroads on the World number two’s serve. Zverev won 87% of his first serves and 64% behind the second delivery.

The 2024 French Open runner-up won the match without facing any break points and has yet to lose his serve in the tournament. “A good match. I thought both of us played quite good tennis,” Zverev said post-match.

“Maybe it was even better than my first match, even though the first match was quite good as well. I’m looking forward to Carlos now on Friday and hopefully more matches at the weekend.”