BERLIN (Reuters) – Alexander Zverev’s number seven in the world has just put another roller coaster year behind him and he now hopes to shine at the Australian Open and finally take off the long-lost Grand Slam maiden title.
Arguably one of the most talented players to go on tour, the 23-year-old German made more headlines off the court than he did last year.
They were taking part in the immoral Adria Tour during the COVID-19 uprising, the legal battle with its former representative, the party in Monaco the among the pandemic, or as it was called allegations of domestic abuse without a lover.
He also parted ways with coach David Ferrer, the third ‘super coach’ he left after Ivan Lendl and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Zverev reached the finals of the US Open and semi-finals of the Australian Open last year but both dominated Austrian Dominic Thiem, another player who had once again fallen out of Grand Slam titles.
Now Zverev is hoping he can shut out his personal life while on the court and report on Thiem.
“Not all of those stories I had were good,” Zverev told Eurosport. “But you have to learn from them. You have to be a better person. In the past I did not know how to handle them and took them to court. “
“Now I have problems out of court but I can rule them out. I had to learn that last year, ”he said.
After parting ways with Ferrer at the end of the year, Zverev will once again rely on family support from his father and brother Mischa to empower him through the tours in Melbourne.
With 13 title titles to his name, he is clearly once again one of the contenders for the Australian title. But it remains to be seen whether he is living up to these high expectations.
“I worked hard last season,” Zverev told reporters ahead of this year’s inaugural Grand Slam. “I like to think I did everything I could to be as prepared as I could be. ”
Fellow German Boris Becker, who coached Zverev briefly at last year’s ATP Cup, is confident he will start delivering.
“A lot happened to him last year – in terms of sport and his private life. In terms of sport, it may be his best, in his private life perhaps the most difficult, ”said Becker.
“Tennis starts at 0-0 and that’s how I see it with him. ”
Reciting with Karolos Grohmann; Edited by Ken Ferris