Alexander Zverev struggled with a swollen ankle during his Paris Masters semifinal loss to Jannik Sinner, raising doubts about his ATP Finals participation. Boris Becker says he wouldn’t coach Sinner, as the former player’s wife is pregnant and he has a business to take care of.
Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime shared kind words for each other after the Italian defeated his friend in the Paris Masters final. Tennis fans trolled Zverev for his crushing defeat to Sinner, especially after the German had earlier claimed to challenge the Italian and Carlos Alcaraz.
Meanwhile, Martina Navratilova expressed her disappointment at one of her Grand Slam records being ignored to honor a male player, Rohan Bopanna.
Let’s find out more about the top stories of the day:
#1. Alexander Zverev weighs in on injury ahead of ATP Finals
Jannik Sinner was empathetic afterwards, but showed no mercy as he defeated an injured Alexander Zverev 6-0, 6-1 in the Paris Masters semifinals on Saturday, November 1.
The German fell and hurt his ankle during his quarterfinal thriller against Daniil Medvedev. He revealed that he faced Sinner with a swollen ankle and would visit the doctor who treated him after the 2022 French Open mishap. The timing couldn’t be worse, as the ATP Finals in Turin is just a week away.
“Unfortunately, it swelled up a lot yesterday after the match. I couldn’t move 100%. I couldn’t really push off on my serve either. I’ll probably fly to Munich to see my doctor, who did the surgery on my ankle. I’ll look into it with him and see if we can do anything about it. Maybe we can make an injection, and then I’ll come to Turin at some point,” Zverev said in a post-match press conference.
#2. Boris Becker lists reasons not to coach Jannik Sinner
Boris Becker is about to become a father for the fifth time. His third wife, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, whom he married last September in Italy, is pregnant with their first child. This is one of the reasons the former player does not want to take up the role of Jannik Sinner’s coach, as he wants to spend time with family.
During a recent conversation with Corriere della Sera, the German revealed that he had refused Sinner’s offer a few years ago as well, citing the pending verdict of his bankruptcy case. Becker claimed that it was he who suggested Darren Cahill’s name to the Italian, and they teamed up in 2022. All four of Sinner’s Majors have come under Cahill’s watch.
“Me a step away from becoming Sinner’s coach? I thought it was a secret. I never talked about it. It’s true. But from there to two months later, I was waiting for the London verdict. I told Jannik, ‘I don’t know how it’ll end, I can’t take on the commitment.’ But I didn’t want to leave him high and dry, I gave him a couple of names: one was Darren Cahill. For me, the best,” Becker said.
“Today, I’m in a different phase of life, the family’s growing, I have a new business. I don’t want to be on the road that much, and maybe the coaching role is starting to feel too tight for me,” Becker added.
#3. Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime hype each other up after Paris Masters final
Jannik Sinner won his first Paris Masters title on Sunday and replaced Carlos Alcaraz as the World No. 1. In the final, the Italian downed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6(4) to win his fifth ATP 1000 title. The four-time Major winner did not drop a set in his five matches.
During the presentation ceremony, Auger-Aliassime thanked Sinner for significantly raising his level and pushing others to improve. The Canadian also mentioned that they have known each other since their teenage days.
“You push all the players and myself to improve and get better. I can only give you credit and tip my hat off to all the improvement since we’ve known each other. I think we were playing FIFA when we were 16 or 17. You’re a much better player since then,” he said.
Sinner returned the favor, saying:
“You’re one of the nicest people on the tour. If you keep playing like this, you’re for sure gonna have some of this (trophy), I’m very sure. I wish you the best for the rest of the season, but also the rest of your career. You’re amazing.”
#4. Fans mock Alexander Zverev for embarrassing Paris Masters SF loss to Jannik Sinner
Alexander Zverev could take no more than one game from Jannik Sinner in their Paris Masters semifinal clash, as he lost 6-0, 6-1. Although he claimed that he played with a swollen ankle, fans online trolled the German.
Another reason for the trolling, apart from the lopsided result, was that earlier this year, Zverev said he could challenge and end Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominance. The top two players have split the last eight Grand Slam titles.
Here are a few fan reactions:
“The same man who said he could spoil sincaraz’s party btw,” a user wrote.
“The court was too fast? too slow? which is it now zverev,” another one commented.
“Welp, that was brutal,” a fan wrote.
#5. Martina Navratilova laments her Grand Slam record being ignored for Rohan Bopanna
Martina Navratilova was unhappy with the ATP streaming service Tennis TV, which ignored one of her Grand Slam records to honor Rohan Bopanna. The 45-year-old Indian doubles specialist recently announced his retirement from professional tennis, ending his 22-year career. He won the 2017 French Open mixed doubles as well as the 2024 Australian Open men’s doubles titles.
To celebrate his career, Tennis TV posted some of his achievements on social media. They mentioned him as the oldest Major winner, as he was 44 when he won the title in Melbourne alongside Matthew Ebden. The post did not specify that it was talking only about men.
A fan opined that the post was disrespecting Navratilova, who won her last Grand Slam title in the mixed doubles category in 2006 at the age of 49.
The former Czech-American player reacted with a couple of tweets, saying there is a tendency to leave women out of the record books.
“Thank you. It does get tiring for women…” Navratilova wrote.
“Women don’t count…. Oh well….” she wrote in another tweet.
The 69-year-old won a total of 59 Majors across categories – 18 singles, 31 women’s doubles, and 10 mixed doubles.
Edited by Parag Jain
