Alexander Zverev accused of being ‘such a baby’ by former Grand Slam champion

Following making these comments, Zverev was beaten by Luciano Darderi in a fourth round exit at the Italian Open.

Zverev had four match points in this match, and he has now been slammed by six-time doubles Grand Slam champion Rennae Stubbs.

Rennae Stubbs criticises Alexander Zverev after his Italian Open exit

When speaking in the latest edition of her podcast, Stubbs called Zverev ‘such a baby’ for his attitude on court during his match against Darderi, which he lost 1-6, 7-6(10), 6-0.

“I find him to be such a baby,” said Stubbs. “He had match points in the second set, he’s playing against this Italian. I mean I’ve played in Italy, I’ve played in Rome, it’s a f****** nightmare to play against anyone Italian, it’s the same against anyone who’s French in Paris.

“…He’s such a p**** on the biggest points, and may I just say I did write down a couple of things, because instead of like going for winners, he’s such a wuss. He had a passing shot on match point and he just had to rip it down the line, but instead what did he go for? He went for the safe one, he went cross court and then the guy hit a volley winner.

“Then he double faulted on set point to give the set away and then he just missed in the third, and the guy was just hanging in. It was 2-0 to Darderi and he was 40-0 on his serve Zverev, and he loses the game with a double fault, mistakes on the forehand, just like gives the game away and that was the match, just ridiculous!”

Would Alexander Zverev benefit from saying less to the media?

He had a lot to say after exiting the Italian Open…

Stubbs then went on to point out the big differences between Zverev and Sinner, who he has lost his last nine matches against, as well as suggesting that he should consider changing his team to have more outside opinions.

“Not only can you not be number one, but you can’t win a major,” added Stubbs. “To beat someone like Sinner and Alcaraz, I mean he’s lucky that Alcaraz is out for the French, so he has one less guy.

“But it’s like he’s never going to beat Sinner, who on a big point is going to go for it, and not only is he going to play the percentages, but he’s going to hit the s*** out of the ball. The forehand goes off, the double faults…”

“…I think his biggest problem is that he has his family as his coach. He doesn’t have someone who is going to say, ‘Either you step or here or I am out of here’.

“Because I don’t know what the father is telling him, but he chickens out all the time and technically he’s not good on the forehand, and technically he has that little hitch on his serve, so at some point…when you’re bad technically, it’s all downhill.”

Do you really believe that Alexander Zverev can win a Grand Slam title?

Alexander Zverev’s previous results at the French Open

Zverev is considered one of the best players not to win a major, having reached three Grand Slam finals in his career.

With Alcaraz already out of the French Open due to his wrist injury, it may be Zverev’s best chance to win an elusive Grand Slam title.

This feels even more relevant as Zverev’s best major is the French Open in terms of win-loss record, and he has reached at least the quarterfinals of the tournament every year since 2021.

Zverev also reached the French Open final in 2024, where he was one set away from the title before Alcaraz fought back.

Before he plays the French Open, Zverev is actually scheduled to play one more tournament at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg.

Zverev is a former champion in Hamburg and will be the top seed at this year’s tournament alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton and Flavio Cobolli.