Zverev did not break serve once – going 0-9 on break points – and was crucially broken in the fifth set from 40-0 ahead.
But rather than pointing to those as factors for the loss, Zverev admitted he has wider issues to deal with.
“I’ve never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do,” he said.
“It’s not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.
“I don’t think tennis is the problem right now for me. 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.
“It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally. 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. 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 made the Australian Open final earlier this year and the French Open quarter-finals.
He says that “tennis-wise I still feel like I’m one of the best players in the world” and that the sport was not the problem.
“I’ve been through a lot of difficulties. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in the media. I’ve been through a lot of difficulties in life generally.
“Even when I’m winning, even when I’m winning like in Stuttgart or Halle, it’s not necessarily a feeling that I used to get where I was happy, over the moon, I felt motivated to keep going.
“It’s just not there right now for me, which, again, is the first time in my life which I’m feeling.”
Zverev has lost in three Grand Slam finals, twice in five sets.
He says the desire is still there to win a first major title, but said right now he is struggling with motivation.
“It’s a feeling that you’re going to bed and you’re just not really motivated for the next day, you don’t really feel like waking up and going to work. I think everybody had this feeling, it doesn’t matter what job you had.
“As an athlete, it kind of reflects on performance a lot. That’s more what I have right now.”
