Alexander Zverev: 'Spending time with Roger Federer helped me a lot'

In his young career, Alexander Zverev has won 11 ATP tournaments, including the 2018 ATP Finals, and has gone 18 times in the final. He was No. 3 in the ATP ranking, position reached on November 6, 2017 and again on April 22, 2018. In the Grand Slam tournaments, he reached the semifinal at the 2020 Australian Open as his best result. 

Less than six months ago, Alexander Zverev came forward with a gesture so selfless it instantly won the hearts of Australians. He pledged to donate to the bushfire appeal $10,000 for every match he won at the Australian Open, and his full $4 million prize if he won the tournament. Mere days after somehow escaping Novak Djokovic’s Adria Tour without coronavirus, footage emerged of him partying at a busy Monaco bar. This was released at a time he was meant to be self-isolating having been in close contact with Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki and Goran Ivanisevic, who all tested positive for coronavirus last week. In a recent interview, Sascha had mentioned that he had learned a lot by spending time with Roger Federer.

Zverev on Roger Federer

"Just having time with Roger Federer on the plane and in the hotels was incredible. I think that experience helped me a lot for the Australian Open (where he reached the semifinals). He said many things to me and that was something important. Now my goal is to improve my game, the rest will come by itself, as it happened in Australia," Alexander Zverev had told the Excelsior website. Zverev's tennis idol is Roger Federer. He has said Federer is the only player that has made him feel starstruck. When Zverev defeated Federer to win his second career Masters title at the 2017 Canadian Open, he said, "This one against Roger is something so special for me because he was always a great idol growing up for me. The greatest player of all time, beating him in a final, not just any final but in the final of a Masters 1000, is amazing." Meanwhile, the organiser of an exhibition tennis tournament in Berlin said on Friday he is considering withdrawing Alexander Zverev from the line-up and has insisted there would be "zero tolerance" if the German does play, but again ignores social distancing guidelines. "I could say 'Sascha (Zverev), I take your behaviour as a breach of contract'. I have not yet decided," Weindorfer told Munich-based newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "The second option is that I say: 'Sascha, you will get another chance from us, but here (in Berlin) you have very clear rules of conduct'."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3iuyBDS