US Open: Alexander Zverev relies on Lendl effect: “Ready for a strong personality

Alexander Zverev has high hopes for the cooperation with icon Ivan Lendl. The first test for the duo will be at the US Open starting on Monday.

Alexander Zverev had put on some pretty big glasses for Media Day. At first it looked – let’s say – a little unusual. But the concentration was more on what the 21-year-old had to say anyway. About the new sporting liaison with Ivan Lendl, the reasons for the commitment etc.pp.

“He’s a strong personality, when he says something, you listen to him,” Zverev said three days before the US Open in New York (starting Monday): “I’m ready, I know who I want to be and who I can be.”

Lendl, who has been world number one for many years, can teach him a lot “because he has been successful at this level as a player and coach,” said Zverev. Lendl (58) had led Briton Andy Murray to three Grand Slam titles and to the top of the ATP ranking. As a player he triumphed three times in a row in New York alone (1985 to 1987).

Zverev is impatiently waiting for the breakthrough in the four majors. So far, the quarter-finals at the French Open 2018 have been his best result. “After Wimbledon, I felt I had to try something new,” said the Hamburg native, “I’m now ready to win the world’s biggest tournaments.

Only on Tuesday he had announced Lendl’s commitment via the social networks. “We had a good week together, trained five, six hours a day,” said Zverev, who will meet Lucky Loser Peter Polansky (Canada) in New York on Tuesday as number four on the seed list.

Curious: Polansky had already failed in qualifying in Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon, but nevertheless slipped into the main field after the cancellations of some competitors.