Alexander Zverev selects his mother as his biggest inspiration

Alexander Zverev has always expressed his gratitude for the efforts of his family. His mother and father contributed greatly to the development of his career and continue to follow him around the world today.

At the Australian Open, he first defeated Marco Cecchinato in straight sets; after the match, he pledged to donate all his prize money from the tournament to relief efforts for the ongoing bushfires if he won the title, a total of A$4.12 million. He then defeated Egor Gerasimov, Fernando Verdasco, and 17th seed Andrey Rublev to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set. There, he defeated 15th seed Stan Wawrinka in four sets to reach his first ever Grand Slam semifinal, where he lost against fifth seed Dominic Thiem in four sets.

Speaking to ATP’s TennisTV, the World number 7 selected his mother as his biggest inspiration: “My mother has always been an inspiration, always did everything for us, for my brother, for myself, coached me from a young age. She did everything possible to make us the tennis players, and the people that we are today" - Sascha said.

Irina Zvereva is a former professional tennis player who represented the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States. She competed in the doubles event at the 1990 Moscow Ladies Open, a tournament on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour. She was ranked as high as No. 4 in her country, and was known for her one-handed backhand.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38HT4im