Just In: Alexander Zverev’s brother lashes out at Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner after shocking complaints
Alexander Zverev’s brother has lashed out at criticism of the German’s two Grand Slam titles this year. Zverev won his first-ever major at the French Open, beating Flavio Cobolli in a tense battle on Court Philippe-Chatrier. With the Grand Slam hoodoo put to bed, Zverev reached the final of Wimbledon but was defeated by Jannik Sinner at the All England Club.
But he completed a memorable 2026 at the US Open in New York with a second Slam of the year. However, there was one constant throughout Zverev’s two Slam triumphs and that was that at least one of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz wasn’t involved in any capacity. As such, detractors have suggested that Zverev got lucky and, in a full-strength field, might have ended up falling short once again.
In an an interview with Sport1, Mischa Zverev, the brother of Alexander, remarked: “Why weren’t they there? Because they were injured. Why do we get injured? Because, in some way, you’re not strong enough, or because you’ve done too much. Because you didn’t rest when you needed to.
“It’s like when you win a Grand Slam tournament and someone complains about the colour of your socks. When someone wins and succeeds, there will always be someone saying: ‘Personally, I don’t like this or that.'”
Zverev has already returned to action after the US Open, this time representing Germany at the Davis Cup. The world No.2 got off to a flying start, defeating Matej Dodig 6-4, 7-6(3) and then Dino Prizmic 6-2, 6-4 as part of a 3-1 victory for Germany over Croatia. That has set up a meeting with Great Britain in the Final 8 in November.
Speaking after his Saturday win over Dodig, he remarked: “I had an extremely difficult match. I thought I played well but [he] played amazing tennis today. I think we’re going to see him at the top of the game very, very soon.
“The power that he has, the talent that he has is incredible. I didn’t expect it. Credit to him. He played a fantastic tennis match.”
Elsewhere, Zverev leads the ATP Live Race To Turin, having won a Tour-leading 54 matches in 2026 so far. Second in the list is world No. 1 Sinner, who has 44 match wins this calendar year.
