Tennis great Boris Becker believes Alexander Zverev has “got a good shot” at winning the 2024 French Open, saying he has learned a lot from his previous Grand Slam final.
Former world No 2 Zverev will meet Carlos Alcaraz in the final at Roland Garros with the young Spaniard edging the favourite stakes after defeating reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in five sets in the semi-final.
Zverev, meanwhile, beat Casper Ruud in four sets in the last four, but his road to the final has not been easy as he was handed a blockbuster opening round against Rafael Nadal.
The fourth seed, though, eased past the 14-time champion in straight sets, but he then went the distance against Tallon Griekspoor in the third round and against 13th seed Holger Rune in the fourth round.
The German’s appearance in the final in Paris comes just under four years after he lost the US Open final in devastating circumstances as he was twice within two points of defeating Dominic Thiem at Flushing Meadows.
Six-time Grand Slam winner Becker will no doubt be rooting for Zverev and he feels his compatriot can pull off the win as he will have learned valuable lessons from the 2020 experience.
“It’s a historic day for Germany because we’ve never had a champion here,” the former world No 1 told Eurosport. “He’s in the final and I think he’s got a shot. I’ve spoken to him. He’s been to the final before and I think he learned a lesson.
“He should’ve beaten Dominic Thiem [in the US Open final] four years ago. He’s a more mature guy now, a more mature player.
“He had a hard, difficult draw to come through. [The first round against Rafael Nadal] was a final for him.
“He had to raise his level from the first round. He could’ve gone out to Tallon Griekspoor in the third round but this is Grand Slam tennis.
“You’ve got to die once or twice in order to lift the trophy. I think he’s got a good shot.”
Zverev leads the head-to-head record with Alcaraz ahead of the final as he leads the stat 5-4, but Alcaraz is ahead on clay as he has won two of their three encounters on the red dirt. The Spaniard has also won their most recent match, a two-set victory in the quarter-final of the Indian Wells Open.
But Zverev won their last meeting at a Grand Slam, a four-set win in the last eight at the Australian Open, while he also beat Alcaraz in four sets at Roland Garros in 2022.