Alexander Zverev in Munich - "What is your plan, Novak?"
Alexander Zverev answered questions in a press round before the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Munich. The German number one is busy with a lot of things at the moment - but he sees himself on a very good track when it comes to sport.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Apr 28, 2019, 03:14 pm
The duties of the top players at ATP tournaments usually include a meeting with the press; interested fans and observers of the scene want to be informed about the current situation. And so the organizers of the BMW Open asked Alexander Zverev to exchange with the number one of the tournament, the title holder of 2017 and 2018.
The 2019 season is not without complications for the now 22-year-old, on many levels. What Zverev did not keep behind the mountain: First of all, there is his father's illness-related absence, which he had to deal with for the first time in his career. The return of Alexander Zverev sr. be advised for the middle of next week. At the moment, Ivan Lendl can only help by phone; the Czechs traditionally plague various allergies in spring.
His own manager at the moment
The mixed situation with manager Patricio Apey is known to be difficult, at the moment he manages himself, Zverev explained. A style-building experience for him, but none that he intends to enjoy permanently. His competence lies on the tennis court, so he is happy to give a few percent to a competent manager.
Oh, yes: he also separated from his girlfriend. And can still concentrate on tennis. He had trained for four to five hours in the past few days, the Zverevs came to the Bavarian capital on Wednesday. At the moment he was just happy to be able to go to the court. Stress-free. Especially for him: “If I play well, I can win against every opponent. If I don't play well, I lose to almost everyone. ”From this perspective, it doesn't matter whether he starts in third, fourth or fifth place in the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. From the quarter-finals, there would be no easy opponents in a Grand Slam tournament anyway.
Only Novak Djokovic knows the answer
He actually does not have time for the precise assessment of the events in the ATP management team, but of course he watches the plans very carefully after the non-renewal of the contract with ATP boss Chris Kermode. What is reported to have been done on the initiative of Novak Djokovic. "Novak has owned the tour for several years," said Zverev. “He was the best player, number one in the world. We as players want to see: What is your plan, Novak? Because Chris Kermode has already done a lot of good things for us, he has increased the prize money, added new events to the calendar that pay us well. The tour didn't get any worse with him. ”So the question was: What is the next step? At the moment, only Novak Djokovic would have the answer.
Zverev leaves no doubt that Rafael Nadal will still be the favorite for the title despite the two recent defeats against Fabio Fognini and Dominic Thiem in Roland Garros - especially due to the best-of-five format. "Nadal is a player who gets better the longer a match lasts." For Alexander Zverev, the length of his matches doesn't matter at the moment. The main thing is that the Hamburg native makes the last point.