Zverev: “I’m fire, sometimes I need to be stopped”
By Alejandro Ciriza, on 09.05.2018 in El País
The number three in the world (Hamburg, 21 years old) is young, handsome, and rich, and assumes with ease the role he is predestined for: to be the new king of the racquet when the giants step aside.
The key of a not too distant future, all the focus is on Alexander Zverev (Hamburg, 21 years old), the tennis player who, it is said and predicted, will be the next superstar of his sport. He just landed in the Caja Mágica of the Mutua Madrid Open, after winning another trophy in Munich, and bursts into the room where the interview takes place with a white shirt of the brand that sponsors him and his endless 1.98 meters. He is young, handsome, and rich, and assumes with ease the role he is predestined for: to be the new king of the racquet when the giants step aside.
Question: With two teachers at home, was being a tennis player an obligation?
Answer: An obligation, no, never. Actually, my parents wanted me to play other sports and wanted to not have to train me. They always wanted me to play soccer, hockey, anything… My dad always told me that would have made his life easier.
Q: Were you a good soccer player?
A: I was, but not anymore: I’m too tall.
Q: Your father has always been your trainer but what was your mother’s role?
A: She was very important in building my technique, especially when I was younger and my father was fighting with my brother [Mischa, the 54th in the world]. She trained me until I was 15 years old because my father was with my brother. All my technique and my backhand from the back fo the court come from her. After, it was my father that took over.
Q: You were born in Germany, but your surname and parents are Russian. Do you feel more German or Russian?
A: German, one hundred percent. There’s no Russian in me… I’ve always felt German: I went to a German school, my friends are German and I’ve never really socialized with Russians. For me, everything is German.
Q: But your attitude often seems rather Russian…
A: My behaviour is international.
Q: Yes, because now you live in Monte Carlo, but you also practiced in the United States. Did that multiculturalism make you grow up with a more open mind?
A: A more open mind and also a bit faster than usual. I have had to be more disciplined since I was very little, do stuff properly. And now people my age are still studying and trying to discover what they want to do with their lives. In that sense, I already have a plan, which is to play tennis, and I haven’t considered any other option. I love what I do, I love every minute I play. Obviously, that’s why the life of a tennis player is great for any kid.
Q: How would you describe yourself?
A: On court, as you have seen, I’m fire. I want to win, and nothing else matters. I want to win in everything I do, on and off court. Off court, I’m rather sociable, I get along with new people, so… I enjoy being with my friends and doing normal stuff. But on court, I’m very professional. When I’m training, I’m always looking for something to improve and sometimes people have to stop me and calm me down because I want to be the best in everything I do.
Q: And are you improving in that aspect?
A: No, I will never be a calm person… And I think that’s a good thing.
Q: You’ve left behind what they call the Next Gen, now you are the present and future. Do you feel that way?
A: Of course. If you ask other players, they will tell you the same thing. I am taking things much more seriously than last year. You reach moment in which you have to stop talking about the Next Gen and realize that some of us are already here. There is an amazing group of players that are arriving, potential Grand Slam champions in that group. We’ll see in the future which ones continue rising.
Q: You’re only 21 years old. How do you manage fame?
A: I’m a normal person. I live in Monaco and I am probably the least famous person there, so I don’t really care. My neighbours are Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki, and that type of person… It’s normal to have to deal with fame. If you arrive and you are very good in tennis, it’s something you have to manage. I have a family that’s always there, and a brother that keeps me grounded by telling me that he’s better than me in everything we do, so for me it’s nothing special.
Q: Do you still compete a lot with your brother?
A: With my brother? In absolutely everything! It doesn’t matter if it’s tennis, FIFA, cards, everything…
Q: Does he get angry when you’re better than him?
A: Not when to comes to tennis. He gets angry when I beat him in basketball or something like that, but not in tennis.
Q: What’s the difference between a good player and the number one?
A: Consistency, I think. They always play the best tennis in the worst moments, in the worst matches. Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are there because they are invincible, and Djokovic and Murray are also incredible players… There was a time in which Novak never lost a match on any surface, and Andy also never lost a match during a good part of 2016. That’s how you become number one.
Q: Do you want Nadal or Federer to retire already?
A: Retire? [laughter] No, I don’t want them to retire. I want to try and find a way to be better than them, that’s something normal.
Q: How many times are you asked about the number one spot?
A: They do it all the time but I try not to listen. I know what I have to do to get there, how much work I need to put in, so until I’m not up there, there’s no reason to talk about it.
Q: Obviously it’s an objective?
A: Yes, well, of course. To get there, you need to win the best tournaments in the world.
Q: Do you feel an excessive pressure from the constant questioning?
A: Not right now, because right now I’m not number one. There’s two other players above me in the ranking and they are two players that often win Grand Slams so… For me the priority is to find a way to be better than them.
Q: Now you compete against them casually, but did you feel more nervous than usual when you played against Nadal or Federer for the first time?
A: The first time, of course. The first time against Roger I lost in Rome, and the first time against Rafa I lost after having had a match point, unfortunately… Of course you’re nervous the first time you’re up against them.
Q: How does it feel to play against Nadal on clay? Is it like facing a hurricane?
A: No, no. Before, yes, I felt like he was invincible, but now I see it in a different way.
Q: And what have you done to develop physically?
A: I have worked with Jez Green for the past five years. It has been a very long journey. Now I feel very well, I think I’m one of the strongest players on the circuit; even though it’s hard to tell when you see me because I’m very tall and so you can’t see much. But I feel very confident in long five-set matches.
Q: If you hadn’t been a tennis player, what would you have done?
A: I think I’d be a professional athlete, maybe a basketball player. I love the Miami Heat. Right now they need good players, so…
Q: Boris Becker, Steffi Graf… What does it mean to be a tennis player in Germany?
A: Expectations, lots of expectations, and lots of big moments. Germans won’t be satisfied with someone who is fifth in the world or tenth… They want grass court champions and number ones and that’s the only thing that matters to them.
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