Alexander Zverev on "Schlag den Star": Strong on the ball, problems with the handbrake
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev competed with handball goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter on Saturday evening at Pro7 in the show "Schlag den Star". And goes to the Laver Cup in Boston with no sense of achievement.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Sep 19, 2021, 09:58 am
Alexander Zverev has not yet played matches that last over five hours in his career. For “Schlag den Star” the German number one had to go over this distance, the winner in the duel with Silvio Heinevetter was only determined at 01:25 at night. That it would come down to the extrovert handball goalkeeper, however, had become apparent quite early on. In the end, Heinevetter won 13 out of 15 games.
Anyone who knows the format knows: Not only sporting challenges are in the foreground, skill and general knowledge are also required. For example, Zverev and Heinevetter were tested with regard to their geographical knowledge ("Where is Donald Trump's golf course?" - As a man with a strong knowledge of Florida, Zverev was much closer to his assessment than his competitor), but also a sense of proportion and craftsmanship Skill was put to the test: for example in the game "Halve".
Zverev wins at mini table tennis
The two exceptional athletes had to cut different types of vegetables into two equally large halves with one cut. Not a problem with a somewhat symmetrical potato, but a real challenge with rather unruly maize. Which, all in all, also solved Heinevetter better.
After all: In his core competence, the game with ball and bat, Alexander Zverev did not let himself be deprived of the victory. Even if the game in mini table tennis lasted three sets. Very practical problems arose with the "trunk" game: The task was to transport several pieces of luggage in a car that (unfortunately from Zverev's point of view) could be operated with a gearshift. With that, the Olympic champion from Tokyo had just as much trouble as with the timely release of the handbrake.
The ambition of both participants was evident throughout the entire competition, the award prize of 100,000 euros may only have played a subordinate role. The multimillionaire will certainly be able to merge that Alexander Zverev could not claim this for himself. And the little car mishap shouldn't have gnawed at his self-confidence for the Laver Cup in Boston.
The duel between Heinevetter and Zverev was particularly well received by TV viewers, by the way: The value of 1.04 million viewers was the lowest that the program "Schlag den Star" has ever achieved on a Saturday evening.