Alexander Zverev was one of the notable absences from the Davis Cup again this week.
Zverev had a disappointing US Open, after being knocked out in the third round by Felix Auger-Aliassime.
This has continued a mixed season for the world number three, who has struggled to find the same sort of form that helped Zverev reach the Australian Open final in January.
Zverev was also not part of Germany’s latest Davis Cup squad, bringing previous comments he made about the competition back to light.
Photo by Martin Rose/Getty ImagesAlexander Zverev refused to represent Germany in the Davis Cup in 2021
Zverev is by far Germany’s highest-ranked ATP player at the moment, being ranked 47 places ahead of the second-best player in Daniel Altmaier.
However, he was not part of the Germany squad for their most recent qualifier against Japan in Tokyo.
Zverev has not competed in the Davis Cup since 2023, but that was only following a U-turn he made on previous comments.
The now three-time Grand Slam finalist had played five ties between 2016 and 2019, with the latter being the year that the format of the Davis Cup was changed.
This saw a significant reduction in the number of the classic home-and-away ties, and instead having one venue for the latter stages of the event called the Davis Cup Finals.
After this change was made, Zverev was a no-show and in 2021 he explained that he would not be competing in the new format, and only wanted to play the ‘real Davis Cup’.
“The format has to be changed and I’m sticking to that,” Zverev told media before the Vienna Open in 2021. “I am someone who keeps his word. I want to win the Davis Cup, but I want to win the real Davis Cup.”
Zverev did make a U-turn on this decision just a year later, competing in Germany’s qualifier tie against Brazil, but is still yet to compete in the Davis Cup Finals tie.
Despite his absence, Germany have still comfortably qualified for the Davis Cup Finals this year, with Jan-Lennard Struff, Yannick Hanfmann, Justin Engel and the doubles pairing of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz beating Japan 4-0.
The Davis Cup has recently moved back towards the original format, with more home-and-away ties and it would be interesting to see whether Zverev will now consider playing in the competition for the first time since 2023.
What is next for Alexander Zverev after skipping the Davis Cup?
Ironically, after Zverev has elected to miss the Davis Cup, his next scheduled event will be in a team format when he represents Team Europe at the Laver Cup.
Frances Tiafoe’s withdrawal has confirmed that Zverev will make more Laver Cup history ahead of his sixth appearance at the event.
Zverev will be the second-highest ranked player on Team Europe this year, as he is joined by Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, Jakub Mensik and Flavio Cobolli for the Laver Cup in San Francisco, which takes place between September 19-21.
The next individual ATP tournament on Zverev’s schedule is the China Open, where world number two Jannik Sinner will play his first tournament after the US Open.
Zverev will then remain in China for the Shanghai Masters, where he reached the final in 2019.