'You immediately felt the joy that Roger Federer can...', says top coach

After a somewhat eventful 2020, Alexander Zverev wants to seek serenity by surrounding himself with those who know him best, namely his family. So Zverev, in addition to interrupting his collaboration with David Ferrer, hired as a coach right at the beginning of the resumption of the circuit after the lockdown, also decided to end his collaboration with Team 8, the management agency headed by Tony Godsick, historic manager of Roger Federer. Team 8 had started looking after the interests of the current No. 7 in the world ranking just two years ago. Moreover, the entry under the protective wing of Godsick had been the trigger of a legal dispute between Zverev himself and his former agent, the former Chilean tennis player Patricio Apey, which was resolved just a month ago with an agreement Between the parts. To announce the end of the relationship with Team 8, it was the 23-year-old German tennis player himself, with a story on his Instagram profile. In the message, Zverev explains that, at the end of a period of reflection, he has decided to "go back to his roots" and that his family will once again have a predominant role in his career, both in the technical choices and in those financial. Judging by the message, he could go back to being dad Alexander Sr, a former professional tennis player for the Soviet Union, his only coach. His brother Mischa, a former Top 30 now on the road to retirement, and 33-year-old Ukrainian Sergei Bubka Jr., son of the pole vaulting legend with a best ranking of 145, will take care of marketing issues. Meanwhile, top coach Severin Luthi recently discussed how Roger Federer is coping with his knee injury rehabilitation.

Luthi reflects on Roger Federer's attitude

This isn't the first instance of a knee injury for Roger Federer, as the Swiss had to undergo similar troubles in 2016 when he took a six-month hiatus. Luthi talked about the similarities between the two injury breaks, and how the Swiss can implement the lessons learned from last time. "There are certain parallels for sure," Severin Luthi said. "Both times he had surgery, both times there was a setback in rehab and in both cases it was obvious, that it would need more time to get back to 100%. Maybe he can benefit a bit from 2016 this time." The 2016 break had, of course, worked wonders for Roger Federer as he came back stronger than ever in 2017. He lifted the Australian Open and Wimbledon trophies that year, and finished as No. 2 in the ATP rankings. Federer has hopes of a similar recovery this time as well, and is already looking forward to making a big comeback in 2021. "From Day 1, when he decided to cancel the season, he was looking ahead," Luthi said. "He directly switched, there weren't any doubts. You immediately felt the joy that he can now spend more time with the family and the other positive aspects."

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