Patrick Mouratoglou believes Alexander Zverev is moving in the right direction, yet he still sees a gap between the German and the game’s leading force. The former coach of Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas thinks Zverev has taken important steps, but says the next challenge is sustaining a more aggressive approach over time.

Zverev has had a strong stretch of results. He reached his first Wimbledon final and, although he lost to Jannik Sinner, he was praised for producing some of his most aggressive tennis during the event. Four weeks earlier, at the French Open, he won his first Grand Slam title after defeating Flavio Cobolli in a thrilling five-set final.

That victory also ended a run in which Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz had won nine straight Grand Slams between them. Zverev is now also positioned ahead of Alcaraz in the ATP rankings for the first time since May 2025.

Speaking on social media, Mouratoglou was clear that progress alone is not enough.

“Zverev is on the right path, but do I think he is there? Not yet,” began the Frenchman.

“I mean, it was a big milestone for him to win his first Grand Slam and be in the final of the next one, especially on clay.

“And grass, he definitely reached another level. Is he at the level of Alcaraz and Sinner yet? I don’t think so.

“And even though he played some of his best tennis in the [Wimbledon] final, and Sinner was, I think, not at his best, he still didn’t win it.

“For him to be able to play aggressively with consistency and efficiency, he has to show that he’s able to do this over and over again until it becomes second nature.

“Otherwise, he starts, for example, the US swing and he knows he’s gonna beat those guys because he has margin; he starts to again control from the baseline, not be so aggressive.

“But if Zverev is to really make the step, he needs to practise this every single match, which he didn’t do yet.”

Zverev is next due to play the Canadian Open, which starts on August 2. Sinner, Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are all absent. The German won the event in 2017, beating Roger Federer in the final for one of the biggest titles of his career at age 20.

The US Open could be drawn into the wider dispute between leading players and the Grand Slams, with tennis expert Jon Wertheim saying there have been “rumblings” that a boycott of the mixed doubles event may be possible.

The issue sits inside an ongoing battle over prize money and revenue sharing that has involved players such as Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka since March 2025. In a letter sent to the four events, the group called for a bigger share of tournament revenue, more investment in player welfare, and the formation of a Grand Slam player committee.

That push has already produced visible signs of protest. At the French Open this year, many players reduced their media duties to just 15 minutes in an effort to underline their position, even though the tournament’s prize fund reached €61.7 million, up 9.53% on 2025.

Their financial demand is specific: the players want the four Grand Slams to allocate 16% of revenue to prize money, rising to 22% by 2030. Sabalenka also made clear in May that she would consider a boycott if progress remained slow.

“I think at some point we will boycott it, yeah,” said the world No 1 at the time.

“I feel like that’s going to be the only way to fight for our rights.”

Wimbledon’s response offered a different tone. Its prize money climbed to £64.2 million, still short of the reported £71 million player demand, yet the players did not limit media access during the event because of what was described as the “positive nature” of discussions with officials.

With the season’s final Grand Slam approaching, Wertheim argued on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast that the US Open and the USTA are unlikely to move quickly toward a revenue-sharing model. He also suggested that any withdrawal from mixed doubles would not be enough to derail the event.

“The US Open, USTA, they are not going to agree readily with any sort of revenue sharing model,” analysed Wertheim.

“And yeah, the question is always, what these things is how much leverage do the players have? And there have been rumblings about mixed doubles.

“What I was told is that there are players who are happy to play, who are sort of on a wait list, who haven’t been tapped yet, but if, Jannik Sinner is a name that’s been thrown around, Aryna Sabalenka has been very vocal.

“If those players choose not to play in the mixed event as a form of protest, they’ll still be okay to fill the field. Obviously, you’d rather have the two current world number ones than not, but I don’t think it’s fatal to this mixed doubles event.”

Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic have again confirmed they will not play the Canadian Open, keeping the focus on a larger issue that has been building across the ATP Tour calendar: the strain of an increasingly demanding schedule.

Masters events sit just below the four Grand Slams in importance, yet top players continue to step away from them, even with 1,000 ranking points available. Their absence raises a familiar question about how much force the current system actually has when elite players choose not to enter.

Andy Murray anticipated this problem last season. Speaking at the Madrid Open, he warned ATP Tour organisers that the two-week format for Masters events could leave the penalties for missing them too weak to influence player behaviour.

At present, players can face automatic ranking penalties, financial fines, and possible suspensions from tournaments, although severe punishments have been rare in recent years.

Murray was blunt about the reality players face. “I never made decisions based on bonus pool, but it would be more about: Will I get a zero point, or might it affect my ranking, this might have been something I would have considered, but then as I got older and when I reflect on it, and also as I’ve said to some coaches who work with younger players: You don’t have to play those events,” he said.

He added: “Everyone says the schedule is very long, which it is. It’s definitely a long season. And now, with the two-week events, it’s quite demanding. But you also always have the choice not to play.

“Yes, you might get a zero point, lose a few ranking points, or not be part of a bonus pool. But that’s a decision, either you’re saying, ‘I don’t want to play,’ or ‘I’m making a decision to play because it’s better for me financially.’

Murray also noted that missing an event does not necessarily bring lasting damage. “Players have the option not to play if they don’t want to,” he said. “It’s not like anything really bad happens. It’s not like you get a suspension or you can’t play future events. It’s just a zero pointer on your ranking. It’s not a big deal.”

Sinner and Djokovic’s withdrawals are unlikely to alter their rankings in any meaningful way, which only reinforces the wider debate. Either the ATP Tour needs to ease the demands of the calendar, or it needs stronger consequences for missing the sport’s biggest events. Otherwise, withdrawals from major tournaments are likely to keep coming.