Tennis Star Alexander Zverev Discusses Future Coaching Possibilities and Big Goals for 2024

“I love being in the gym and making progress. For me it’s like a vacation somewhere,” he said after his victory over the Russian, which capped a turbulent year.

It was the first season after the serious ankle injury that Zverev suffered in the French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal in May 2022. Initially struggling with understandable problems, in the second part of the year the Hamburger worked his way closer to the top in the world. In the end, there were two tournament wins and seventh place in the world rankings, which enabled them to take part in the finals.

Alexander Zverev in Turin

Fotocredit: Getty Images

In an interview with “Sky”, Zverev looked back on the past few months. “The longer the year got, the better I played tennis,” he said: “The French Open helped a lot, it was unbelievable that I was in the semi-finals there.” In addition, the victory at his home tournament in Hamburg at the end of July was “a turning point”.

Zverev defends father: “Gets disrespect”

Since then, Zverev has been coached again by his father Alexander senior. The 27-year-old cannot understand why he is sometimes not held in the highest regard by the public. “My father gets a lot of disrespect. But I don’t know why,” said Zverev in an interview with “Sky” and added: “He’s not just a parent, he played tennis at a high level himself. He was number one in the Soviet Union and played against the best in the world.”

Accordingly, he understands tennis “better than the ‘normal tennis trainers’,” says Zverev Jr. However: “My father isn’t getting any younger, I know that, he knows that, we all know that. He needs more breaks and rest days.”

Zverev: “I would take him again in a heartbeat”

There is therefore a clear requirement for a potentially new or additional coach: “If I bring someone in, it will be someone who is incredibly motivated to achieve great things.”

According to Zverev, a possible candidate is an old acquaintance: David Ferrer. The former world number three, who ended her active career in 2019, trained Zverev between July and December 2020 – and clearly left a lasting impression.

“I would take him back immediately – immediately,” said Zverev when he was confronted with the name Ferrer in the “Sky” interview. The only reason for the separation was the corona pandemic and the associated measures.

Alexander Zverev with his then coach David Ferrer at the French Open 2020

Photo credit: Image

“Every time he came back to his family in Spain after a tournament, he had to go into quarantine for two weeks. Then he told me: ‘I can’t do this now. I just stopped playing tennis and I can’t “It’s getting to the point again where I only see my family six weeks a year,” Zverev recalled.

However, Ferrer’s renewed engagement is currently out of the question – the fact that Ferrer serves as the Spanish Davis Cup captain makes collaboration impossible. “He is not allowed to work with any player,” explained Zverev. But: “We’ll see what happens in the future. Working with him was great fun. So why not?”

Zverev praises Becker: “He understands tennis”

Zverev also had words of praise for tennis icon Boris Becker, and he also revealed that in the past there had been consideration of installing the three-time Wimbledon winner as a coach: “He is a tennis expert. He understands tennis and knows how “It’s about being at the top. I also had the thought of doing something with Boris. That was in 2018, but I was still too young then.”

Instead, the choice fell on Ivan Lendl. However, Zverev did not want to rule out a cooperation with Becker in the future. Similar to Ferrer, Becker is also busy with other things these days. The 55-year-old from Leimen recently took over the Danish top talent Holger Rune. “So it won’t happen in the near future because he’s busy.”

Whoever Zverev goes into next year, the reigning Olympic champion has big goals for 2024. “For me, next year will be a year in which I don’t want to set any limits,” he announced.

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2023-11-21 16:27:00
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