Alexander Zverev - The emotional return of the ATP world champion to Hamburg
After years of absence, Alexander Zverev is back at the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Hamburg. The start of Germany's number one is accompanied by some question marks.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jul 22, 2019, 01:19 pm
It was a few days ago that Alexander Zverev was able to take the quirks of his so-called "super coach" Ivan Lendl from the funny side. Zverev was in a small media group and was asked about a comment by Roger Federer, who once claimed to have discussed the pigeons in front of the window with his ex-trainer Stefan Edberg. And Lendl? He prefers to talk about golf - with himself. "He keeps monologues and everyone has to listen," said Zverev with a slightly amused look. It was noted casually, Lendl is not unknown for a certain quirkiness.
But the fun is over, the fun knows limits. Zverev and Lendl, this now strange player / trainer relationship - it is only one of the problem areas that strain the young German world-class player in his most critical year of his career to date. When Zverev hits the Rothenbaum in Hamburg for the first time in three years this Tuesday, thanks to the persistent and committed negotiating efforts of the new organizers Peter-Michael and Sandra Reichel, the ATP world champion naturally wants to shake off the persistent crisis with a victory run. But the question is: With whom and with which strategy does Zverev want to get firm ground under this emotional home game and aim for new cup successes?
Major conflict in Alexander Zverev's team
Zverev recently indicated that he wanted to continue with Lendl for the time being. He said it in the context of a press conference, which could undoubtedly also be seen as an angry payroll, as an accusation that the native Czech does not take his job at Zverev seriously at all. Was it the last attempt, the last warning call in Lendl's direction, to try harder? Because in the Zverev team, a major conflict is still smoldering, which most recently also appeared in Wimbledon - it's about father Zverev and Lendl, about their non-relationship, about the tensions between the two companions from old times in the Eastern Bloc. "Two coaches are one too many," Alexander Zverev senior is quoted as saying, and who he considers superfluous is not difficult to identify. In Hamburg, in any case, everything is as it used to be in Zverev's squad: Zverev junior is playing on the field, next to it, the father keeps watch and control. Lendl is far away, he will probably only meet the US Open for Team Zverev in the final preparation phase - probably at least.
Maybe Zverev is also making a clean table, looking for a new beginning sooner or later this season - and getting rid of shadows from the past. In any case, Lendl has not been a winner for a long time for the 22-year-old, who was in stagnation for long stretches of his 2019 season and was too often on the defensive in every respect. A final divorce agreement with ex-manager Patricio Apey at the green table, but not in court, would offer the opportunity to reposition yourself in terms of sport. Before the start in Hamburg, Zverev indicated that the issues in the Apey case were clarified and brightened up, which would clear the way for a new management contract, a new, and not always just a business consultant. Rumors that Team 8, the agency of the American Tony Godsick, are interested in Zverev (and vice versa) are by no means hot air. But because of the smoldering legal dispute between Zverev and Apey, there are no public statements.
Difficult first task with Nicolas Jarry
Zverev needs better whisperers. Because his career started with all sporting successes with an unnecessary mortgage. His former shopkeeper Apey, the 53-year-old Chilean resident in London, dreamed of being a world star, Zverev, when he hadn't won anything - and was just one of the many talents in the traveling circus. Zverev was always inspired when he performed in Germany, you could feel that he would have liked to have performed more often at home tournaments. But Apey steered against it, he wasn't interested in the German market, he also spoiled tournament organizers with utopian demands.
Zverev could have played at Rothenbaum in recent years, too - apart from all strategic, sporting considerations - it would have been simply emotionally important, he could have taken the momentum of the home game with him for the hard court tour in North America. The good feeling of having pitched at home in front of Hamburg's tennis friends can now inspire him this entire summer. "I wanted to go home where I was liked," said Zverev before the tournament started. But his mission on Rothenbaum will be difficult enough, his first round opponent Nicholas Jarry has just won the first tournament of his career in Bastad.