I’m still number three – Alexander Zverev ready to go far at Wimbledon

Alexander Zverev feels he is returning to form on grass at an opportune moment as he readies himself for Wimbledon.

The German is preparing to make his ninth appearance in the tournament and will face the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the first round.

En route to the Championships Zverev was in action at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where he reached the semi-final, prior to which he lost to Taylor Fritz in the final of the Stuttgart Open.

“I had pretty good preparation. Played a final, played a semi-final, worked through those tournaments as well,” he said.

“I think people are forgetting I’m still number three in the world and I’m number three in the race.

“I’ve had a few maybe losses here and there, which were normal, (some) which were maybe unexpected.

“All in all, I feel like my form has been coming back the last few weeks, few months.

“I’m looking forward to this championship. I think I can play well here.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas will play his first grand slam under the tutelage of new coach Goran Ivanisevic, formerly responsible for training Novak Djokovic.

The Greek 26-year-old, who was in action at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at the Hurlingham Club, said of his new mentor: “He’s been great. He’s a great human being and I feel like our relationship has strengthened and become much better than what I would have expected it to be.

“I will obviously focus on the training and all of the procedures that are necessary for me to improve, and I’ll make sure to get to know him better, be curious around him and ask him advice outside of all the tennis too because I feel like he can help me with so much experience that he has gained over the course of his career.

“I think the best thing that Goran has kind of stated and made clear is that he’s not coaching Novak Djokovic right now and we’re kind of starting from scratch.

“He’s coaching me in a way as if I just started playing tennis, which is a great thing because it’s very down to earth and a very humbling experience as a player to get to experience that.

“There are no expectations, obviously he doesn’t expect me to, from tomorrow, start winning grand slams one after the other like Novak.

“Every small success that I manage to achieve with him, it doesn’t have to be a huge, but every small success is a huge success.”