Alexander Zverev acknowledged a run of poor form after a surprise third-round defeat at the 2025 US Open, a loss that carried an unwanted historical footnote. The world No 3 fell 6-4, 6-7(7), 4-6, 4-6 to 27th-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime in Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Zverev arrived in New York following back-to-back semi-final appearances at Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati. He had won his opening matches at Flushing Meadows against Alejandro Tabilo and Jacob Fearnley without dropping a set and held a 6-1 head-to-head lead over Auger-Aliassime prior to the meeting. Despite those markers, the 25-year-old Canadian outplayed the three-time major finalist after Zverev squandered a chance to lead two sets to none.

The defeat made Zverev the first ATP player ranked in the top three to lose in the first week at two successive majors since Rafael Nadal in 2005; Zverev had been beaten in the opening round at Wimbledon last month.

In a press conference with German media, Zverev was blunt about his recent performances and the way he had played in New York. “I think I’ve played badly here for the last two years,” declared the 28-year-old. “Last year, I won my matches, but the matches I won were laborious, they weren’t really pretty, they were won more through hard work than good tennis.

“And as soon as I played against a good player, I think last year it was Taylor in the quarter-finals, this year it was Felix in the third round, I immediately lost the match. To sum it up, I played too passively, but I played too passively because I simply had nothing in my racket, really nothing at all. I have no feel for my forehand, no feel for my backhand, and then I tried to be aggressive a few times and the ball flew somewhere and then that’s just how it is.”

Zverev also confirmed an ongoing back issue that he had mentioned earlier in the tournament but rejected it as the primary cause of the defeat. “Yes, I think the back, well, the back does have something to do with the serve, but I think in general everyone served much softer than they normally do here,” Zverev said. “I think it has something to do with the balls, but that’s not the reason why I lost. I lost because I really played badly, and that’s just the way it is. Yes, the back pain won’t go away until I get an injection. I’ll be getting that at some point. But again, that’s not the reason.”

Novak Djokovic’s plans for retirement have been a recurring subject through much of 2025. Former world No 1 Jim Courier offered a reason why the Serbian may not finish this year, suggesting a final trip to Australia could change his timeline.

Djokovic, 38, has limited his schedule this season, skipping most ATP Tour events and concentrating on Grand Slams. That selective approach delivered strong results: the most successful male player of all-time reached the semi-finals of the first three majors this season despite a lack of match practice. Djokovic has been open about his motivation, saying his career extension is driven by one objective: “to win a 25th Grand Slam title and claim the record for the most major title wins.” He added, “Biological age is not something that I guess you can reverse,” said Djokovic. “I still feel like I have a game left in me, you know to play at the highest level.

“As I said before several times, as long as I have that feeling of really that that level is still alive, I feel like I want to keep going and I want to keep pushing myself to see whether I can have a shot at another Slam.

“I’m asking myself questions, of course, more nowadays than I have ever before in terms of, how long do I want to keep going at this level? How do I want to approach my schedule to kind of extend my career?”

“I might get a little bit more philosophical again when I finish the tournament, but I’ll try to focus on the next challenge here.”

Courier, watching Djokovic beat Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the US Open quarter-finals, pointed to the Australian Open episode last January as a possible reason to continue. He said: “My personal feeling, and it’s not rooted in any facts, just feelings,” said Courier. “My feeling is that Djokovic had such a bad taste in his mouth leaving his most successful tournament when he had to stop playing because he was seriously injured in the semi-finals.

“He played a competitive set against (Alexander) Zverev, lost it and then shook hands. Then he, the ten-time champion, was booed off court and it was Zverev who had to defend his honour in a post-match interview. It was not well done by the crowd.

“So my view is he would want to go back and play Australia at least one more time and get a proper send off. That’s what I want for him. I don’t know if that’s what he wants.

“Can you imagine (Roger) Federer playing at Wimbledon, he had to default and the fans boo him? Can you imagine? The same with (Rafa) Nadal at Roland Garros. “Ten times that Djokovic has won that tournament in Australia. No one is even close. It was wild.”

If Djokovic lifts a 25th major at the US Open final, an immediate retirement announcement would not surprise many. If he loses — whether in the quarter-final to Taylor Fritz, a potential semi against Carlos Alcaraz, or a final with Jannik Sinner — the debate over his next step will only intensify.

Stefanos Tsitsipas bowed out of the 2025 US Open in a dramatic second-round match, losing 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 to world No 56 Daniel Altmaier in a contest that lasted four hours and 26 minutes on Thursday. The defeat ended Tsitsipas’ run at Flushing Meadows and followed a heated exchange at the net.

After Altmaier saved a match point in the fifth set and completed his comeback, Tsitsipas confronted his opponent at the handshake over an underarm serve, telling Altmaier: “Next time, don’t wonder why I hit you, ok? No, I’m just saying, if you serve underarm… if you serve underarm,” Altmaier appeared surprised and walked away while Tsitsipas remained visibly frustrated.

Former world No 1 Justine Henin criticised Tsitsipas’ conduct and suggested it reflected a deeper problem. “Altmaier has every right to serve under the arm. I don’t think he would have reacted like that a year or two ago,” she said. “There’s a bit of an ego issue: ‘I don’t get served under the arm.’ That says a lot about everything he’s been going through for a while. It feels a bit like being in kindergarten, almost.”

Altmaier addressed the incident in his press conference and acknowledged the emotions that can follow a long match. “I know that sometimes in the heat of the moment, you can say stuff you don’t normally would like to say.

“You regret afterwards. So I think we all know about these discussions at the net; I’m not a fan of it.

“Even if I would have lost, I would not enter discussions because it’s just, like, the heat of the moment.

“You need to cool down; let’s see if he reacts to it or sticks to his opinion. Which is fine for me. I know what I did and that’s it. It’s part of the game.”

Tsitsipas, a former world No 3 now ranked 28th, holds a 20-17 (54%) record in 2025. The 27-year-old has struggled for consistency and has not won consecutive matches since the Barcelona Open in April. The best result of his season was claiming the Dubai Championships in February/March.