As for Zverev, he says now that he “made some mistakes” after the Australian Open, by getting back on the practice court too quickly, instead of giving himself “time to process” his defeat. He says that a long stay in Indian Wells after his early loss there has helped.
Keep going through the Top 15 and you see the same inconsistency. Rublev won a title in Doha last month, but hasn’t won a match since. Tsitsipas won a title in Dubai, but didn’t reach the quarters in Indian Wells or Miami. Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Ben Shelton haven’t capitalized on Sinner’s absence, or the upheaval at the top.
As we make the transition from hard court to clay, the ATP is a sea of faces bobbing up and down in the water. As some players drop, guys like Draper, Rune, Denis Shapovalov, Arthur Fils, Seb Korda, Lorenzo Musetti and a dozen others rise. That includes Novak Djokovic, who hasn’t had a good year, but could be in position to take advantage of the current void at the top.
All of that is normal; in an 11-month season, even the best players have their dips and lulls. The difference right now to me is Alcaraz.
