Juan Carlos Ferrero about Alexander Zverev: "Must improve off the pitch"
Juan Carlos Ferrerospoke in the 3iGuales podcast about his ex-protégé Alexander Zverev . The Spaniard criticized the behavior of the German number one off the pitch.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Apr 17, 2020, 03:42 pm
The collaboration ended abruptly after Juan Carlos Ferrero and Alexander Zverev spent eight months on the tour between 2017 and 2018. Zverev criticized the lack of respect on the part of his coach, who in turn complained that his German protégé no longer complied with the rules of cooperation. Nevertheless, both sides pledged that "they had separated in the good."
Nevertheless, the Spanish coach after the breakup had emphasized that Alexander Zverev lacked the consistency and mental strength to be successful at Grand Slam level. By the time of the Australian Open this year, the seventh in the world rankings hadn't made it past the quarter-finals of a major, although when he won the 2018 Nitto ATP finals, he had proven that he was more than up to the game's greats can.
Now Ferrero once again commented on his former protégé in the 3iGuales podcast - and again he sees some clear deficits at Zverev: "In the past he was often swaying back and forth in the same game. I believe that this is why he has not yet won a Grand Slam. This inconsistency means that he plays heads or tails in the fifth movement. " Again and again Zverev had to be in place early in the tournaments for a long time. A weakness that he only seemed to get a grip on at the Australian Open when he literally stormed through the first rounds.
"There were protests, anger, stops, distractions"
According to Juan Carlos Ferrero, there was a lot of room for improvement at Alexander Zverev, especially off the pitch: "I watched them romp around Instagram and not think about tennis, as was the case in our time. Zverev was three hours, for example on the court, but could not carry out high-quality training for an hour and a half. There were protests. Stops. Anger. Distractions, "said Ferrero. Social networks in particular would be more of a curse than a blessing to players. Zverev had also noticed this on the fringes of the Australian Open and at the same time assured that he wanted to improve his use of social media.
In order to take the last step to the absolute top of the world, an increase at Zverev - and also his colleagues - is needed, especially outside of tournament operations. "To defeat Federer, Nadal or Djokovic, Zverev and the other guys who come after them have to improve off the pitch: from food to fitness," Ubitennis.com quoted the French Open winner from 2003.