ATP Finals: Sascha’s dream week: How Zverev also convinced outside the court

The ATP Finals in London ended with a blast: the sensational victory of Alexander Zverev over Novak Djokovic. Zverev’s performance on the court was great – but she was also right off the track.

By Florian Goosmann from London

In press conferences Alexander Zverev has so far been regarded as… well, let’s call it “Difficult Candidate.” He was happy to give patty answers to questions he didn’t like. The counter often came: “I’ve heard it a dozen times, please, not again.” Only in August he asked a journalist to get the transcript of his press conference a few days ago, “I’m sure the ATP will be happy to give you a copy”. What Zverev likes to forget: Many local journalists take care of other things than tennis during the rest of the year, they didn’t get all the answers of the months before.

Also in London Zverev was about to deliver his “Have I already answered” statement to a reporter who joined him later and to continue. “I’ve answered that question three times already,” he also said – then he showed a more recent approach: “But I can answer it again if you want.” And he did so in some detail.

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Zverev is often portrayed as unapproachable and angular, sometimes he is too. But, and this is remarkable, he has his own opinion. And expresses these too. One last favourite topic: the overloading of the tournament calendar. Whereby Zverev clarified: It is not about the fact that too many (obligatory) tournaments take place during the year, but about the brevity of the off-season. A few years ago, after the Stockholm tournament (mid-October), he finished his year and completed four weeks of fitness training, followed by four weeks of tennis training. You can’t do that as a top-8 player. (Roger Federer struck a similar notch. With more breaks you could train certain strokes, “I could only practice volley for half a year, or serve and volley,” he said.)

Zverev further explained that he had already spoken to Novak Djokovic about the topic of time-out. “He’s been thinking the same thing for ten years, but he never talked about it. Now that more players are talking about it, he’s saying it.” Will anything change? Not at first – thanks to the Davis Cup reform it will be 2019 for some players even more.

Amusing the coaching relationship with Ivan Lendl. He is considered a Stoic, but Andy Murray already praised his dry humor. Zverev’s had enough of that, too. I was irritated by his statement: “If you are too strict with me as far as rules and co. are concerned, the relationship will not last long.” Lendl understood that very quickly.

As the week went by, Zverev rowed back. When it comes to important things, training, he is very disciplined. How Lendl saw things? Of course, it wasn’t noticeable to him. When he trotted onto the court on Friday and saw Jamie Murray, he greeted with a dry comment and grinned. He probably made a joke.

Zverev remained silent only on one point, which drives the tennis world: What exactly Ivan Lendl is doing with him, what he is currently working on. “He advised me not to say anything about it. So I stick to it,” he explained. However, one thing could not be denied: the improved serve. This was indeed a great starting point for Lendl, Zverev finally admitted, after Djokovic, the world’s best return player, had gone mad in the final.

It was already noticeable how impressive the serve was this week. Against Isner he actually wanted to serve with less speed and more into the corners, “at the set ball against me I hit the outside with 143 mp/h (230 km/h), that was quite good”, he flattened. It actually was, the result was an ace. In total, he beat Isner 18 times. And against Djokovic he thundered in the first set 88 percent first serves into the field!

Zverev was also asked whether his forehand was the shot with the most potential for improvement. “You always think my forehand is grottenschlecht,” he wondered and distorted his face, as he likes to forgive it when he is irritated and at the same time places a joke. “I think she’s actually pretty good.” Above all, please don’t compare it with Andy Murray’s. But of course he had to improve it – like every other stroke.

The great performance against Roger Federer – he was a little clouded by the whistles that Zverev (wrongly) received, because during the change of ball (rightly) he pointed to a ball that trumpeted on the court. In an on-court interview with Annabel Croft, Zverev apologized for the situation, which earned him more whistles.

Crazy: On the one hand there was no reason for Zverev to apologize (he probably had a guilty conscience because he had beaten an ace in the repeat), on the other hand it was all the more respectable that he still said Sorry, just for the situation itself (and Federer’s end). Of many things that could be positively reported about Zverev this week: It was perhaps the action that earned him the most praise.

The fact that Zverev enjoys a good reputation in the scene was also shown by his dealings with Djokovic. He presented himself as a generous loser and even said he hoped that Zverev would outdo him in the number of ATP finals titles (Djokovic won five times). “I sincerely wish him that. He’s one who’s fully committed. No doubt he’s a totally nice person. One who gets along well with everyone.” And he continues: “I’m happy that he won this great title because we have a very good and friendly relationship. We live in the same place, train a lot together, see each other a lot. And he has a very nice family.” A fine appreciation among colleagues.

Zverev hadn’t let himself be ragged at the awards ceremony before. “I just want to say what a great person you are,” he praised Djokovic. “We have such great conversations, not just about tennis, but about other things, about life.” What exactly they were talking about last time… he’d rather keep it to himself.