Player history

Alexander Zverev was born on April 20, 1997 in Hamburg, Germany to Russian parents, Irina Zvereva and Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev. His older brother Mischa, born almost ten years earlier, is also a professional tennis player. Both of Sascha's parents were professional tennis players for the Soviet Union. His father, ranked as high as No. 175 in the world, became the top male player nationwide, while his mother was the fourth female player in the Soviet Union. Both moved from Sochi to the capital to train at the military-run tennis club CSKA Moscow. The Soviet government often barred their players from competing outside the country, an impediment that limited how high one of Sascha's parents could rise in the world rankings.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union imminent, Irina went to Germany to participate in a tournament in 1990, accompanied by her husband as a coach. While in Germany, they were offered jobs as tennis instructors. After initially declining, they accepted a job offer at Hamburg's Uhlenhorster Hockey Club the following year and ended up settling in the country.

Zverev started playing tennis at the age of 3. Since Sascha started playing tennis at an early age, she said, "One day when I was one year and five months old, I picked up a little racket and I was starting to push the ball all over our apartment and ever since they took me to the field. I still enjoy it, I enjoyed it then." When she was five years old, she started playing tennis at least half an hour a day. Sascha also played hockey and soccer as a child, but decided to focus only on tennis around the age of 12 after an early round loss at a top-level international junior tournament in Florida.

When Sascha was young, his mother was his main coach while his father was focused on coaching his brother. She said: "I think I have pretty good technique, which my mother did at a young age, so credit to her for that. My backhand, in particular, is 100% due to my mother." mother had a more relaxed teaching style, father had a very Soviet way of doing physical training sessions which involved performing timed exercises for a fixed number of repetitions. around hitting the ball with rhythm and finishing points quickly.

Career

Zverev is among the strongest tennis players of his generation and has won 19 ATP tournaments in his career, including two editions of the ATP Finals (2018 and 2021) and the singles gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Slam, he reached the final at the US Open, and the semifinals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. His best ranking is the No. 2 position in the ATP rankings, reached for the first time on June 13, 2022.

Alexander played his first pro match at Germany F14 Futures and he reached the final in the season-ending USA F32 Futures as one of the youngest players ever. Also, he was by far the youngest player in the year-end Top 1000 at the age of 15 years and 8 months. In 2013 he was the first player born in 1997 who played an ATP tournament, making a debut in Hamburg, and he also had a chance to play on the Challenger Tour a month later in Meerbusch. Semi-final run at USA F28 Futures and another season with a Top 1000 finish, the third youngest player in that group behind Duck Hee Lee and Andrey Rublev. 

In 2016, the first big season on the Tour, winning 44 matches and claiming first ATP title in St. Petersburg, becoming the first teenager with ATP crown since Marin Cilic in New Haven in 2008 and finishing the season in the Top 25. After winning 3 matches at Indian Wells (losing to Nadal despite a match point), Zverev advanced to the semi-final in Munich and the final in Nice, his first on the Tour.

In Halle, Sascha became the youngest player who beat Roger Federer since Rafael Nadal in 2005, en route to his second final, and he also reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon. Sascha was halted in the semis in Washington and Stockholm, but he went all the way in Russia, beating Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka en route to his maiden ATP crown. Zverev was the youngest player in the Top 20 since Novak Djokovic in 2006.

 In 2017, an amazing season highlighted by 55 ATP wins and 5 ATP titles, including 2 Masters 1000 crowns in Rome and Montreal, and he finished the year ranked 4th. Zverev was the youngest player with Masters 1000 title since Djokovic in 2007 and also the youngest player in the Top 3 since Serb did it 10 years ago. Sascha claimed titles in Montpellier and Munich before conquering Rome, beating Novak in the final in straight sets. Federer stopped him in the final of Halle and he lost to Raonic in 5 sets at Wimbledon. Young German shined in Washington and Montreal and he was the youngest competitor at ATP Finals since Juan Martin del Potro in 2008. 

In 2016 he participates as seed n.8 at the ATP Nice. The German conquers his first ATP final, beating in succession Kyle Edmund, Marcel Granollers, Gilles Simon and Joao Sousa. In the final he was beaten again by Dominic Thiem in three sets. He later participates in the St. Petersburg Open. During the tournament he manages to go all the way to the final without losing a set and even beating world number nine Berdych. In the final, Zverev beat Stan Wawrinka in three sets, thus winning his first career ATP title. In Madrid 2018, he participates in the Mutua Madrid Open as the No. 2 seed. After defeating Evgenij Donskoj 6-2, 7-5, Leonardo Meyer 6-4, 6-2, John Isner 6-4, 7-5 and in the semifinal Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-1 he won the tournament by beating the Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 in the final. He won the second consecutive final in the Master 1000 in Rome, lost against Rafael Nadal 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

 At the ATP Finals 2018, the German was drawn in the Kuerten group in which he made his debut with a hard-fought victory against Marin Cilic, overtaken 7-6, 7-6. Despite the defeat inflicted on him by number 1 Novak Dokovic, 4-6, 1-6 in favor of the Serbian, he qualifies for the semifinals by virtue of the following victory against John Isner, overtaken 7-6, 6-3. The semifinal pits him against Roger Federer, winner of the Hewitt group, against whom he prevails 7-5, 7-6. During the interview on the field immediately after the match, the German receives the boos of a large part of the O2 Arena as during the tie-break of the second set, on the score of 4-3 for the Swiss and in a potentially unfavorable exchange to the German, he asks for the point to be repeated because he is disturbed by a ball dropped by a ball boy behind the rival tennis player.

Once the situation has been verified and in terms of the regulations, the chair umpire agrees to repeat the point that Zverev wins just before closing the match victoriously. Visibly displeased by the spectators' displeasure, despite being supported by the regulation, the German immediately apologized to his rival and to the public itself for what had occurred shortly before. At the press conference, Federer himself clarified that what happened on the pitch was part of the dynamics of the game and that, therefore, the German didn't have to apologize.

Dispose of the controversy over the events of the semifinal, the following day, four days after the previous defeat, he faces Novak Djokvic , against almost all the odds, he wins 6-4, 6-3, thus winning his second participation in the ATP Finals , his first trophy of the event. At the 2020 US Open, Zverev eliminated Kevin Anderson, Brandon Nakashima, Adrian Mannarino, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Borna Coric in sequence and in the semifinals Pablo Carreno Busta, who had taken advantage of Novak Djokovic's disqualification in the round of 16. He beats the Spaniard with a score of 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-3 and reaches the first Grand Slam final of his career. In the decisive match against Dominic Thiem, the German takes the lead by 2 sets and a break. He also serves for the match but is comeback and defeated by 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(6). 

Zverev takes part in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and, in his first Olympic participation, the German reaches the semifinals without giving up sets, defeating Lu, Galan, Basilasvili, Chardy. In the semifinals, he faces Dokovic, still in the running for the Golden Grand Slam. In comeback, Zverev imposes himself on the world No. 1 for the 3rd time in his career, accessing the Olympic final. In the circumstance, Alexander beat Khachanov with a clear 6-3 6-1, winning the gold medal, the first in German history in the men's singles.

In the same year, Zverev participates in the ATP Finals in Turin, where he is placed in the red group with Medvedev, Berrettini and Hurkacz. He wins the first match due to the withdrawal of the Italian tennis player, then suffers a narrow defeat by Medvedev, losing in the tie-break of the third set. The clear victory against Hurkacz 6-2, 6-4 allows him to qualify for the semifinals where he challenges Novak Djokovic for the fifth time this season by defeating him against odds in three sets 7-64, 4-6, 6-3. In the final on November 21, he defeated Medvedev for the sixth time in his career with a double 6-4 to win the tournament for the second time. The success on Italian soil allows the German tennis player to strengthen his third place in the ATP ranking.

 In 2022 he suffers a serious ankle injury, but at the end of the season he reaches the world No. 2 of the ATP ranking for the first time. At the 2023 Australian Open, Zverev was knocked out in the second round. The German, on his second round after his return from injury, was defeated by Mmoh in three sets: after winning the tiebreak of the first set, he was reassembled by the American with the final result in favor of the latter of 6-7, 6 -4, 6-3, 6-2. He told: "I had no expectations. I had no goals and it was a good test for me. I played a match going to the fifth set and I know where I am physically.

That's all. I guess I still have a long way to go to get back to where I was. My foot is healthy, but I'm at the physical level I used to be. I'm not that fast. The physical conditions are definitely not as good as they were before. So I think there's still a long way to go to reach that level there. I think in the last few weeks I've been getting better and better, and that's something very positive for me." Now that the Australian Open 2023, little is known about the German's programming for the next few weeks: he is not present in any entry list of the next scheduled tournaments, all ATP 250 from Cordoba to Dallas via Montpellier.

Style of play

Zverev's style is based on playing well back from the baseline, and on delivering powerful shots with which he often looks for the winner or the opponent's mistake. Zverev has his best shot in his two-handed backhand, both down the line and across the line, which he usually hits with great power and precision. With this shot Zverev often looks for the winning shot or enters the rally diagonally in order to exhaust the opponents. On the other hand, his forehand played with a western grip is less secure, which, although equally powerful, does not have the same consistency, often with consequent precision problems. Another shot Zverev occasionally uses is the backhand slice, played one-handed.

Another of Zverev's strong points is his powerful serve, which thanks to the height is regularly above 200 km/h, with peaks of 220 km/h. This coup, and over time it has been perfected to reach the maximum level in 2018, allows Zverev to make high percentages of points with the first one, such as aces or winning serves. Although his serve sometimes lacks consistency in some parts of the game, he often maintains prime percentages even above 60%.

However, Zverev's main weakness is a mental stability that has so far prevented him from establishing himself in a Grand Slam. In fact, the German in his career so far has achieved success in every type of tournament with the exception of a Major. The motivation is attributable to both a mental and psychological difficulty in getting excited about this type of tournament and in facing thick opponents, as demonstrated by the partial negative of 1 win and 10 losses against the top 10 in the Grand Slams. 

Rivalries

In 2022, Zverev spoke about his rivalry with Stefanos Tsitsipas: "I have no problems with him. I congratulate him. I wish him the best for tomorrow's final. We are in competition though, so at the end of the day when you are going to the court, you try to win. But I have no problem with him. The style of play is very different: one-handed backhand, more use of slices. He has more variety in the game. I don't think we have a similar game, to be honest."

Private life

Zverev lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco, grew up in Hamburg and has also spent his winters living in Florida at Saddlebrook Academy since he was 12 years old.
Zverev has a daughter, born in 2021, with Brenda Patea, a former girlfriend. Since 2021, Zverev has been in a relationship with Sophia Thomalla.

In October 2020, Zverev's ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova accused Zverev of physically and emotionally abusing her over the course of their relationship in an article in Racquet magazine by journalist Ben Rothenberg. Sharypova cited multiple instances where Zverev allegedly became violent towards her, including punching her in the face during an argument that took place in the couple's hotel room while Zverev was competing at the 2019 Laver Cup. Zverev denied the allegations and said released a statement after Sharypova's initial allegations:

"I am very sorry she made such statements. Because the allegations are simply not true." A second article by Rothenberg in Slate magazine about the allegations was published on August 26, 2021. In late August 2021, Zverev obtained a court injunction against Rothenberg in a Berlin-based libel trial. Slate said the injunction was obtained before the organization had an opportunity to present evidence and that they were appealing the decision.

In October 2021, the ATP announced an investigation into the allegations against Zverev, saying in a statement, "The allegations raised against Alexander Zverev are serious and we have a responsibility to address them." Andrea Gaudenzi, CEO of the ATP, confirmed in March 2022 that the investigation was still ongoing. Zverev filed a lawsuit against ACE Group International and its CEO Patricio Apey, accusing them of illegal trade restriction. He argued that the contract between them was oppressive, but ultimately agreed to settle the dispute out of court before the trial began.

Net Worth and Endorsement

Zverev lives in a luxurious house in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The worth of the house is not known. Alexander Zverev has a net worth of $30 million USD, in 2023. Zverev 's major income is from his Tennis prize money and from his endorsements by him. Zverev is endorsed by many world-class brands and companies. some of them are Adidas, Richard Mille, Head, Peugeot, Z-Zegna and Rolex. He owns a black BMW i8 Roadster which has a market value of $163,300. He also owns many other luxurious cars in his garage.

Career titles

2021

Nitto ATP Finals (Indoor/Hard)
Vienna (Indoor/Hard)
ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (Outdoor/Hard)
Tokyo Olympics (Outdoor/Hard)
ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Outdoor/Clay)
Acapulco (Outdoor/Hard)

2020

Cologne 2 (Indoor/Hard)
Cologne 1 (Indoor/Hard)

2019

Geneva (Outdoor/Clay)

2018

Nitto ATP Finals (Indoor/Hard)
Washington (Outdoor/Hard)
ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Outdoor/Clay)
Munich (Outdoor/Clay)

2017

ATP Masters 1000 Canada (Outdoor/Hard)
Washington (Outdoor/Hard)
ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Outdoor/Clay)
Munich (Outdoor/Clay)
Montpellier (Indoor/Hard)

2016

St. Petersburg (Indoor/Hard)