World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, who suffered a defeat against Tallon Griekspoor in his Indian Wells opener, admitted that his "terrible" performance has pushed any thoughts of overtaking Jannik Sinner in the rankings out of his mind.
Zverev entered the prestigious ATP Masters event in the California desert as the top seed, taking advantage of world No. 1 Sinner’s belated three-month suspension for a doping violation.
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Having finished as the runner-up to Sinner at the Australian Open, Zverev initially saw an opportunity to claim the top spot. However, with his current struggles on the court, that ambition is quickly fading.
"Now it's less, because I'm just playing terrible," said Zverev, who made early exits at Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco before his disastrous Indian Wells showing.
He became the first men's top seed at Indian Wells to crash out in the opening round since Andy Murray in 2017.
"I have to find my game before thinking about that, because to become world number one you have to win tournaments," Zverev said.
"I'm not past getting first, second round at the moment. So I need to figure that out first."
Zverev admitted he had no clear explanation for his dip in form since the Australian Open.
Before the tournament, he had cited illness during two of the three weeks of his "rough South American swing" as a possible factor.
However, after his 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) loss to 43rd-ranked Griekspoor—who had been defeated in six of their previous seven meetings—Zverev conceded that he was simply not playing well enough.
"I'm not playing a level that I want to play, definitely not playing anywhere near what I played in Australia," he said.
After taking the first set against Griekspoor, Zverev staged a comeback from 2-5 down in the second to lead 6-5, only to be broken while serving for the match.
In the third set, he saved five match points in the 12th game and converted his fifth break point to push the contest into a decisive tiebreak. However, he could not hold off Griekspoor any longer, ultimately falling short.
"He played a good match," Zverev said. "There's no question about that. But I have to look at myself a little bit."
"It's everything," he said. "I keep working, but right now it's not clicking."
