Alexander Zverev sr. - The big silent one with the poker face
Alexander Zverev has reached the semifinals of a major for the first time at both Australian Open. His father Alexander Zverev sr., Who planned and led his son's career from the start, played a large part in this.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jan 29, 2020, 02:12 pm
Alexander Zverev sen. has played thousands of sentences and hundreds of games by his son Alexander jun. tracked. He has experienced everything, euphoria and disappointment, the splendor, the misery, crashing defeats, wonderful victories. But how he felt out there on his often lonely observation post, you never really looked at the 60-year-old coach. Or heard from him what he thinks about all of this, the son's career, his roller coaster rides, the difficult picture in public. The coach father is a man who controls his emotions in an almost uncanny, superhuman way.
And he is the great silent, the actor in the Zverev team, who knows and experiences a lot, but who does not reveal any of this. If you ask Zverev senior ("Mister No") about Zverev junior, for example after winning the 2018 ATP World Cup in London or after a moment of triumph like just in Melbourne, after moving into the first Grand Slam semi-final, then Daddy answers like this: "Ask Sascha." Sascha, that's how everyone in the tennis scene has known him since the days when he traveled around the world as a literal child of tennis with the family - then as the younger brother of the first Zverev on the modern professional tour, Mischa.
Everything at Zverev on the test bench
Tennis is a family affair at Zverev. Often this has been written in recent years, but in the past few days this finding has taken on new importance. Before Sascha Zverev set out to explore previously unknown corners of the Grand Slam universe at the Australian Open, he had had a horrendous start to the season. Suddenly, in the midst of frustration, hectic pace and enormous nervousness in the care team, everything seemed to be put to the test - especially since Zverev also publicly messed with his father at the creepy ATP Cup and insulted him in front of cameras ("Shut up." . "). The echo of the appearance was: Zverev needed new impulses, new faces in his company, it was time to separate from the father. Boris Becker, team leader of the German troops in Brisbane, also called for changes. At that time, the tennis chancellor said that Zverev was trapped in a dark room, it was a matter of finding the light switch. But Zverev must want that too.
The most amazing thing about the whole story of this tennis January: Nothing happened, Zverev continued with the traditional team, including his father. He trained hard before the Australian Open, tried to make up for the shortcomings of an insufficient season preparation. And father Zverev was the usual mask-like rigid supervisor, always with his two facial expressions - with the grim and the very grim look. Zverev joked in the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, "he is the" normal coach type, "who basically does not particularly like his player." Another joke came from semi-finalist Zverev's mouth, at the expense of the daddy, namely the "That he will certainly cry for a while now." Just like on the biggest day of the young Hamburg player so far, on the day of winning the World Cup in London - back then, Zverev senior had been attacked more emotionally than ever before, tearful at the moment of triumph, no longer put the poker face on. One of the few sentences that Papa has ever heard was said that day: "I am very proud of him," he said about the son.
Did not get beyond 175th place
Zverev senior suffered from the unfavorability of political time in his active time as a tennis player. He was an exceptional man on the court, full of elegance and maneuverability, an esthete on the ball. But in times of the “Iron Curtain” he was only rarely allowed to travel to tournaments in the West, which is why he did not get beyond position 175 in the world rankings. In the early 1990s, when the family moved from Russia to Germany, he worked as a tennis instructor, in Mölln and at the Uhlenhorster Hockey Club (UHC). But he and his wife Irina quickly took over the ambitious sons, first Misha, later Sascha. Misha did not make the leap to the top of the world, partly because the parents led an overly strict regiment. Sascha, the younger, then had more freedom in his development, there was more tolerance and forbearance.
Sascha Zverev tried twice with outside tennis skills to broaden his athletic horizons and accelerate his career. But the project with the former Spanish top man Juan Carlos Ferrero failed, as did the glaringly illuminated interaction with Ivan Lendl later. Maybe it was also due to the inseparable close relationship between father and son, all newcomers never felt so comfortable in the Zverev team. Lendl's farewell was also promoted by a statement from Daddy Zverev, who said dryly: "Two coaches are one too many."
He is now on board, also in the son's most successful Grand Slam mission so far. "I always blame bad play for myself first, not for others, not even for my father," said Zverev on Wednesday, "ultimately my father and I have proven that we can achieve great things together, again and again." Father, according to Zverev, will still be part of my team for a long time.