PARIS (Reuters)

While Alexander Zverev is leaving the French Open with a bitter taste in his mouth again, the German believes he is at a level where he can again challenge for an elusive Grand Slam title.

The 22nd seed got his ‘ass kicked’ in a 6-3 6-4 6-0 drubbing by last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud in Friday’s (June 9) semi-final but has plenty of hope for the future, a year after leaving Roland Garros with a freak ankle injury in his semi with Rafael Nadal.

Zverev said he had some physical problems against Norwegian fourth seed Ruud but did not want to make any excuses.

“I had one physical issue, which kind of against him you have to run a lot, you have to fight and I wasn’t really able to do that,” he told a press conference.

“I wasn’t really able to push off my serve much, as well. Everything went his way a little bit. I would have loved to play a final here, for sure. I saw it as a big opportunity to play a final here. But he was much, much better than me today.”

Although he missed a chance to face Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final, Zverev was confident he had regained the level he had last year coming into the claycourt Grand Slam.

Asked if he could be a contender in the majors, the 26-year-old said: “I feel like now I’m able to, maybe not Wimbledon because, well, it’s played on grass, so that’s more difficult for me. But generally speaking, yes, that’s the mindset I’ll have from now on.”

Reaching the semi-finals in Paris after playing “five great matches” gave Zverev the confidence he needed to aim at a major title, having reached the last four here three times in a row and the 2020 U.S. Open final.

“I’m doing everything that I can for it. It’s very difficult to speak about it after today because today I got my ass kicked. There is no question about it. I was also not playing the way I wanted to play,” he said.

“But that is definitely my goal. I’m happy that I’m back to where I am so soon after the injury. Normally it takes longer. I was in the semi-final of a Grand Slam. That’s very positive. I missed out on a chance, yes, but that’s life. We move on.”