The needs of Alexander Zverev - difficult times for the ATP world champion
Alexander Zverev has had a busy week. In Indian Wells and Miami, the German number one could only win one match for various reasons, and there are problems alongside the court.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Mar 24, 2019, 05:49 pm
It was at the beginning of last week that Alexander Zverev was the main character in a little feel-good story. Zverev, the reigning ATP world champion, was a guest at a shelter in Miami with other professionals and quickly adopted a particularly affectionate puppy named Pop. The mixed-breed terrier will soon be brought to Monte Carlo, Zverev said, "he looks pretty happy and I'm happy to be able to take him home." The 21-year-old may then soon be equipping his new companion with social media -Account, like the faithful family poodle Lövik.
In the pictures you saw on Zverev's trip to the animal shelter, the young German looked exceptionally cheerful and in a good mood. What else happens around the world rankings third, on and next to the center court, is not really laughable. Zverev's 2019 season remains difficult, at the Masters in Miami he was eliminated in his opening game against Spanish veteran David Ferrer 6: 2, 5: 7 and 3: 6. Zverev was still suffering from the aftermath of a violent flu that had hindered him in the top Indian Wells competition. At the highlight of the season so far in Melbourne, the Hamburg-born man had said goodbye to the Canadian Milos Raonic in the round of 16 in January without any sound.
Alexander Zverev and Patricio Apey face each other in the boxing ring
Zverev has to struggle with his form, with health, with expectations and with the headlines, why he did not make the decisive breakthrough in the pioneering Grand Slams. Recently, the star of the new tennis generation has also been fighting on a front from which one could not have known at the beginning of the year. Zverev and his Chilean manager Patricio Apey seemed like inseparable allies for a long time, no sheet of paper seemed to fit between the World Cup champion and the business owner. But the reality is quite different: Zverev and Apey suddenly face each other in the boxing ring, more precisely: in court.
It has long been speculated among experts that Zverev would be looking for a new management at the end of this season, but now there is a violent legal dispute about the duration of the current contract with Apey. Complainant, Apey now let the "tennis magazine" know, was not him, but Zverev. Apey said that he had a "binding contract until 2023" and that he was "shocked, sad and disappointed that such measures had been taken." In the statement, Apey also referred to the "high level of support and attention" that Zverev has been offered since 2012.
The matter is piquant because Zverev would hardly push for an end to the cooperation with the Chilean, which is by no means uncontested, unless another alliance was already in sight. Industry insiders have recently speculated several times that Team8 agency, which Roger Federers manager Tony Godsick and Maestro himself founded, may be interested in signing Zverev. Federer was also asked about these speculations in Miami, but he was a bit angry when he refused to comment on the process - no wonder, however, that legal proceedings are now pending between Zverev and Apey. The South American was already described by Zverev on the edge of the ATP Masters - also opposite the "tennis magazine" - as his "old manager".
Tony Godsick's promise to Roger Federer
Federer also said that he was a "player and client" at Team8, that he only focused on playing tennis and didn't want to say anything else. Federer is just an employee who doesn't look left and right of the path - the idea is a bit difficult, after all the 20-time Grand Slam winner is the figurehead and the representative of the “Laver Cup” that the management company designed and developed . Not surprisingly, Zverev is one of the main pillars of this show tournament, and one of the well-paid regulars. The images of Federer practically coaching the Germans in Chicago last year and whispering tips on the bench were memorable around the world.
Team8, the Godsick and Federer agency founded in 2014, is currently also looking after the business interests of Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Godsick, who once looked after Federer at the marketing giant IMG, had made a prominent forecast for the future towards his famous partner: “Roger, you are now successful. But I promise you that after your career you will be even more successful. "