World No.3 Alexander Zverev suffered a shocking loss in the opening round of Wimbledon, which has left him looking for answers that are beyond the court. The German was stunned by Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who registered a 7-6(3), 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 win.

Zverev said he has never felt this incomplete, and there are issues that he needs to sort. The 28-year-old battled hard for four hours and 40 minutes but ended on the wrong side of the result.

“I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do,” Zverev said in his post-match press conference. “It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.”

Earlier in the season, Zverev qualified for the Australian Open final, which was his third appearance in a Major final but could not cross the last hurdle against Jannik Sinner. But after that, the lanky player managed just six wins out of his next 12 matches on the tour.

Zverev’s inconsistent results on the tour have made him realise that he might need a mental coach to manage him.

“I don’t think tennis is the problem right now for me,” Zverev said. “It’s something else that I have to find within me at the moment. But something within me has to change, which is not necessarily on the tennis court.”

When asked if he might consider working with a mental coach, Zverev spoke candidly, saying, “Maybe for the first time in my life I’ll probably need it”.

“It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally,” he added. “I don’t know. It’s difficult to find joy outside the tennis court for me at the moment.

“It’s not an excuse or anything. I think Arthur deserved to win today. It’s something I’ve felt for the past few months. Again, I just feel generally very, very alone and very lonely. I don’t know. Just never felt that way before.”

Zverev would look to bounce back strongly before the US Open.