Griekspoor was eliminated from the first round of the US Open by eventual finalist Ben Shelton, who bested the Dutchman in four sets. After seeing Shelton make the final and be paired with Alexander Zverev, he already had an idea about the tournament's grand finale.
“I expected as much against Shelton. The head-to-head record was obviously already firmly in Zverev’s favour," Griekspoor told Ubitennis before taking a dig at the level of play.
"I found the match rather mediocre. Shelton played very inconsistently and gave away two or three free points per game. You can see what a first Grand Slam final can do to a player. Zverev wasn’t outstanding, but he served really well. The second-set tie-break was crucial.”
Griekspoor, a former world number 21, admitted he has a hard time watching the world number 2, especially due to one element of Zverev's game.
“There were other sports on at the same time, and I simply find it hard to watch Zverev. Especially in this tournament, where he bounced the ball 400 times before every serve. It was really extreme, but it clearly helped him. Maybe I should do it too."
Griekspoor and Zverev met as recently as this August, when the Dutchman beat Zverev in three sets at the Montreal Masters.
'Zverev is always the one who steps in'
Zverev finished the year with the most Grand Slam wins after winning the French Open in the absence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The German now stands 1,810 points behind Sinner in the ATP Rankings, but is on top in the ATP Finals Race with 8,650 points.
With the Asian swing set to start, Zverev still has the chance of overtaking Sinner as the world number 1. Griekspoor doesn't think that will happen, however: “Absolutely not. Not a single hair on my head believes that."
Instead, he hopes that Sinner and Alcaraz return to full fitness again soon, which would diminish Zverev's chances, he thinks.
"I hope they both return to top form very soon. But if those two were to drop out during a tournament, Zverev is always the one who’s ready to step in. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he ended his career with four or five Grand Slams.”
As for Shelton, Griekspoor thinks he shouldn't have made it to the US Open final in the first place, with Alcaraz not in top shape yet.
“Alcaraz should have beaten him in the quarter-finals, but he had a nightmare tie-break in the fifth set. Then Alcaraz walked off the court smiling. I got the impression that this showed what his expectations were. He hadn’t arrived at the tournament in peak form. I think he and his team were already satisfied with that.”
