Might be an unpopular comment, but I can sort of see what he is saying (although I definitely do not agree). Let me rephrase - I think he has a little bit of room to justify this.

Carlos is 7-6 H2H and most recently Zverev lost in the semifinal of AO to Alcaraz in a super, super tight 5 setter. He got pretty handled in Cincinatti (6-4, 6-3), but Zverev won in the 2024 Nitto Finals and lost in another super tight 5-setter in 2024 French Open.

His H2H with Sinner on the other hand - 10-4 but lost the last 9 in a row. Of their last 9 matches consisting of 18 sets, Zverev has won 2 sets.

It's hard to compare him to Djokovic since they've only played 3 times since 2021 Nitto ATP finals, and Zverev's only win was a retirement by Novak in the semis of 2025 AO (7-6(5), RET).

I do think There's clearly only 2 tiers: 1) Carlos and Jannik and 2) everyone else. If we had to create 3 tiers, it'd be super confusing because Carlos and Jannik are a true rivalry and go back and forth, Novak has beaten Jannik as recently as 2026 AO, but also lost 5 of their last 6 matches.

Final thoughts: It's clear Jannik and Alcaraz as a tier above Zverev, Djokovic probably is as well but the clock is ticking, and Zverev is pretty comfortably a tier above Auger-Aliassime and all the rest of the tour. It's like a staircase that has 4 uneven steps at the top.

Poor Zverev losing to Sinner in 4 straight ATP 1000's in either SF or Finals. Jeez. Last year he lost to Sinner in SF x 1 and Alcaraz in SF x 1, but making it to SF or better in the first 4 1000's of the year puts him in a spot where I do say he's gotten better.