ATP: Everything important about the brother duel between Alexander and Mischa Zverev

Now the time has come: For the first time Alexander and Mischa Zverev will meet at ATP level. On Thursday afternoon, local time, the defending champion and his very special challenger will face a brotherly duel in the round of 16 of the Hartplatz tournament in Washington.

Vitali never wanted to fight Vladimir – and Vladimir never wanted to fight Vitali. The Klitschko brothers had promised their mother Nadezhda early on that they would never compete in the ring. To the chagrin of Don King, the eccentric US promoter with the high-voltage hairstyle. The boxing scene’s dream remained the same, the Klitschkos kept their word despite the millions of dollars’ temptations. Family honor was above all else.

In tennis, the conditions are certainly different. And yet the mood barometer in the Zverev team before the first ATP duel between Alexander and Mischa fluctuates between great anticipation and slight discomfort.

“I think it will be an interesting day,” said Mischa (30), who has always stood by his almost ten years younger brother in word and deed. The left-hander always took over this role as protector for “Sascha” (21) – without appearing chuckling.

“Sasha has to make his own experiences, I can only give him the tools,” Mischa, the calm one, once explained. In doing so, he also meant dealing with the media, which the older person masters so perfectly.

But his sentence also says a lot about the philosophy of this relationship between the brothers, so different in character, which seems so intact and stable from the outside. And each of them appreciates and knows: without the other he would not stand where he stands. “Sasha made me better,” Misha said.

Mischa and Alexander had to play 539 matches in total on the tour before the direct comparison of the brothers takes place.

And Alexander Zverev had already suspected it this time. “He said to me, check the draw,” Mischa said: “I asked why? And he said again, “Check the draw.” After a look Mischa knew what “Sascha” meant. A victory for both in the first round of the Citi Open in Washington – and it would be the first Zverev duel at ATP main field level in the round of 16.

The duels so far: In qualifying for the 250cc tournament in Houston, Mischa won against his younger brother in 2014. At that time, however, Alexander had to give up in the third set at 2:3 – plagued by cramps. “At that time I was still very thin and not very fit,” Alexander Zverev reported. Two years earlier, they had faced each other at the Challenger in Dallas, when Mischa won 6-0, 6-1.

Alexander Zverev chatted out of the sewing box before the family match. “Mischa and I used to play the Wimbledon finale in the backyard. He used to hit me there. I hope things will be different this time,” said the third in the world rankings and Washington defending champion: “It will be exciting. We both want to win, we’re both excited. It’s not a game like any other…”

The best sayings about the duel between brothers:

“I don’t know him that well, because this is the first time we’ve played against each other.” (Alexander Zverev)

“It’s a win-win situation. It shows that my parents did a great job.” (Misha Zverev)

So the stage for a special match is set at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. May the better man win…!