Alexander Zverev splits with Roger Federer's Team8 management company

Top-ranked German tennis player Alexander Zverev has announced that he has split with Roger Federer's Team8.

Following the Tour restart, Zverev made his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open, won back-to-back ATP titltes in Cologne and also made the Paris Masters final.

The Team8 agency is founded by record 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer and his agent Tony Godsick.

"What a year 2020 has been, for the whole world and for myself,' Zverev wrote on Instagram.

I reached my first Grand Slam final without my parents and brother being court-side due to them contracting COVID-19. An almost 2 year long legal dispute with my former agent finally came to a successful resolution, so I have spent a long time thinking about my short  and long term strategies going forward. For this reason and because of the ongoing worldwide restrictions, I have decided to go back to the roots and have my family help me with my coaching, as well as Mischa and Sergei Bubka with my management. 

'I want to thank TEAM8 for the great work and tremendous experience, but we both feel it's the right decision to have my family take on a bigger role once again."

Zverev also split with his coach David Ferrer

Zverev and former world No. 3 absolutely enjoyed working with each other but the Spaniard announced earlier this year that he was splitting with the German. 

Ferrer, the 2013 French Open runner-up, acknowledged that he was not the right coach for Zverev and confirmed that he plans to coach in the future.

"I had to decide by the end of the year; I spoke to Alexander and told him that I preferred not to continue working with him in 2021.

"There wasn't a particular reason or anything; I just thought the time wasn't right. Everything is fine between us, and I'm grateful to Alexander for the opportunity he gave me to travel with him in the closing stages of the season. We had a good run during those three months. It wasn't easy for me to continue traveling with Alexander due to the coronavirus and the fact that I'm the Barcelona Open tournament director. There's also my family, which I put above everything. I'm not the right person to help Alexander at the moment. In the future, I will work as a coach again, that's for sure," Ferrer said recently.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2XRMMtz