"I was hoping Alcaraz & Sinner would be in same group" - Alexander Zverev gets brutally honest about wanting to avoid duo early in ATP Finals

Alexander Zverev recently made his feelings clear, belonging in the same group as Jannik Sinner as opposed to Carlos Alcaraz, whom he has defeated in the last two ATP Finals.

Zverev enters the ATP Finals as the third seed behind World No. 1 Sinner and No. 2 Alcaraz. With Sinner winning the Paris Masters, he reclaimed his No. 1 ranking; therefore, he lands in the Björn Borg Group, which includes stars like Zverev, Ben Shelton (5) and Felix Auger‑Aliassime or Lorenzo Musetti (8).

In Friday's press conference ahead of the ATP Finals, Zverev acknowledged that while both Sinner and Alcaraz are the best tennis stars currently but especially on indoor hard courts, he considers Sinner a tougher opponent.

"It doesn’t matter, to be honest. Well, it does matter, but they’re both among the best players in the world, for sure. For me, on this particular surface and indoors, on a faster hard court, I feel like this court is much faster than Paris, I think Jannik is the best player in the world right now. And I think if you ask Carlos, he’d probably agree," Zverev said (9:18).

"Of course, anybody can beat anybody, and Carlos can beat Jannik and vice versa. But the last two years, I was in the same group as Carlos, and I was able to win both of those matches. So yeah, it’s not like one is here and the other is there -- they’re both right there at the top."

Zverev also admits he has a much better chance of qualifying in the semifinal had Sinner and Alcaraz both belonged to the same group.

I was actually hoping both of them would be in the same group so that we could play in different ones, but it is what it is," Zverev added.

Alexander Zverev lost to Jannik Sinner in the Vienna Open

There's a reason why Alexander Zverev would rather face Carlos Alcaraz than Jannik Sinner.

Recently, the German suffered a defeat in the Vienna Open final at the hands of Sinner. The Italian defeated Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Head-to-head, Sinner enjoys a 5-4 record. Meanwhile, when it comes to head-to-head with Alcaraz, Zverev is 6-6. It's also important to note that Alcaraz is not in his best form.

After winning the 2025 US Open, the Spaniard lost to Taylor Fritz in the Laver Cup, was defeated by Sinner in the Six Kings Slam and then recently he was defeated by Cameron Norrie in his first match at the Paris Masters.