Alexander Zverev tennis biography. Alexander Zverev compares himself with his father, one of the best tennis players in the USSR

Soviet tennis player, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.
He played 36 matches for the national team in the Davis Cup, of which he won 18 matches.
European champion in singles (1982) and men's doubles (1983). Winner of several international tournaments. Champion of the Friendship-84 games.
Three-time winner of the USSR championships in singles and four times in men's doubles. Twice he topped the ranking of the strongest tennis players in the USSR.
Since 1991 he has lived and worked in Germany.
Father and coach of tennis players Mikhail and Alexander.

Vladimir RAUSH
Saint Petersburg - Moscow

The St. Petersburg Open tennis tournament, which ended on the banks of the Neva on Sunday, may someday be written down in history. The fact is that it was here that 19-year-old German Sasha Zverev won his first victory at an ATP series tournament, defeating the winner of the recent US Open, Stan Wawrinka from Switzerland. As you can guess from his first and last name, the champion is directly related to Russia. His father and coach Alexander Zverev Sr. was a famous Soviet tennis player and played for the national team in the Davis Cup for many years. Mom Irina Fateeva is much less known, although she also played tennis at one time. professional level.

Much water has passed under the bridge since then: the Zverevs now live in two houses, in Germany and the USA, and have not appeared in their historical homeland for a long time. However, in St. Petersburg the whole family gathered in full force - in addition to the parents and Sasha, the eldest son Mikhail also came to the tournament, who, however, dropped out in the first round. The SE columnist could not miss this opportunity and met with the head of the tennis clan for an interview.

TENNIS USED TO BE MORE DIVERSE

Many former athletes declare: they would not want their children to follow in their footsteps. Apparently, you do not share this position?

My sons themselves wanted to play tennis; no one forced them to do so. It was a voluntary choice. If children have a desire to play sports, which I have dedicated my whole life to, naturally, we need to support them in this. Another thing is that you need to separate playing for fun and professional tennis. At first, the child just wants to throw the ball over the net, but then the moment comes when he needs to make a decision: is he ready to study seriously. If everything is “just for fun,” then no one needs it. Here we must give credit to the guys: both Misha and Sasha treated tennis very responsibly from the very beginning.

During adolescence, children often begin to rebel and quit playing sports. Has Sasha happily passed this period?

Sooner or later there comes a time when a young man wants to make decisions in his life himself. Naturally, we give our son this opportunity. But at the same time we carefully monitor so that everything is within normal limits. To be honest, we never had any problems with this. From a young age, Sasha saw how his older brother lived and trained, and then he himself followed the same path.

- Sasha says that you often give him yourself as an example. Looking at your son, do you catch your own traits in him?

If we talk about his tennis style - with difficulty. Modern tennis is very different from what we played in our time. He became much faster, stronger and more aggressive. We never even dreamed of the serving speed of the current players. The style of play has changed accordingly. What we have in common is the character we show on the court. Sasha, like me, tries to fight to the end, regardless of the score and opponent.

I remember that you preferred long plays with the ball on the back line, while your son is active all over the court and often goes to the net.

I built my game depending on the opponent. In general, in our time tactics played a much greater role than now. Some tennis players now occupy a place in the world's top twenty thanks to their serve. There are those who mainly operate only on the back line and those who try to go to the net more often. Previously, tennis was more varied. You had to pick up the key to your opponent and use it weak sides. To do this, you had to be able to do almost everything.

Despite her height, Sasha moves very well around the court. Do you pay special attention to this aspect?

Without good movement There is nothing to do on the court in modern tennis. You need to be fast and at the same time very resilient. This requires appropriate physical training. It is important for us that Sasha is a complex athlete. Therefore, two years ago we invited the famous fitness trainer Jez Green, who once trained Andy Murray, to collaborate. We are satisfied with his work. Sasha is tall and at the same time thin, you need to load him very carefully. Otherwise, injuries may occur.

- I heard that his back and shoulder often hurt now.

When a player dials good shape, he can go very far in several tournaments in a row - reach the semi-finals or finals. Naturally, in this case he gets serious physical activity. Even the very person might get sick here. strong athlete. This is not due to injury; rather, it is a sign of overexertion. Sometimes playing with heavy balls leads to this. After a couple of weeks of using them, tennis players begin to feel the shoulder, which is subject to increased stress during hitting and serving. In this case, you need a pause and quality restoration - in particular, massage. If this moment is underestimated and performance continues, the situation may escalate and lead to injury. Fortunately, we have managed to avoid them so far.

As far as I understand, it was injuries that undermined your eldest son’s career. Did you change your training methods after that?

Misha's injuries were partly a matter of chance. At a tournament in Shanghai, he fell unsuccessfully on his hand and injured his hand. I had to take a break, during which time his body became a little unaccustomed to the load. And when Misha returned to the court again, it couldn’t stand it. It took time to gradually get involved in the work, but there was none. The eldest son beat one tennis player, and immediately went up against an even stronger opponent. He defeated him and ran into the next one. As a result, the hand injury led to other medical problems. My back and knees started to hurt... This is also why we treat Sasha very carefully. If unpleasant symptoms appear, we try to pause immediately.

I AM NOT TOOKING MY SON’S PRIZE AWARDS

This season, attention to Sasha has increased sharply: he is already being called the future first racket of the world. Does this increase the pressure on him and on you?

We try not to pay attention to these conversations. Journalists often make a fuss where it is completely unnecessary. There is no arguing that Sasha belongs to the “new generation” - a new generation. He has already won the junior Australian Open, competed in the finals of the ATP-250 tournament in Nice and ATP-500 in Hull, defeated Roger Federer - this cannot be taken away from him. But it’s not worth saying that he is a potential first racket of the world. To do this you need to work very hard and play well throughout the season. One, even winning a tournament, will not make you number 1.

Sasha is not yet ready for smooth performances over a long period. Even this season he only looked good for six months, then he went into a slump. My son is still very young and cannot yet sustain 10 months in a row at a good level. When this happens, you can think about some kind of jump in the rankings. But even then it will be too early to talk about first place - after all, he can become second, fifth, or eighth. It seems to me that Sasha himself understands all this perfectly well.

You train your son personally. Is this a principled position, taking into account your rich sports experience, or have you simply not found a suitable mentor yet?

It can not be in any other way. Sasha is not just my son, but also a student with whom I have been working for a very long time. We have common goal, to which we are moving gradually, step by step. No one else simply knows our ideas. What can an outside coach do? Come and say: hit here and there? But this is not an end in itself. Even a former great player turned mentor can never guarantee success. Look, Goran Ivanisevic worked with Cilic, and then they separated. Inviting such a specialist will not bring automatic success.

- Aren’t you afraid that working with your son will affect your personal relationships?

I know of many cases where joint training between parents and children led to disastrous results. But each situation is individual, there is no universal recipe. Personally, I have never had any particular difficulties with my sons. I consider myself a fairly competent person in tennis who is well versed in this matter. And at the same time I always separate work from my personal life.

- Is it true that you receive all the prize money for your son that he wins in tournaments?

- (laughs) Of course not. This cannot be, if only because Sasha is a member of the Association of Professional Tennis Players, and all ATP prize money is transferred to his account. He has a credit card attached to this account, which he can use absolutely freely. I have nothing to do with him.

I can guess where this question came from. The fact is that after leaving the tournament, Sasha is usually in no mood to deal with bureaucratic matters. Therefore, he asks me to go to the organizing committee of the competition and pick up a piece of paper on which the amount of prize money due to him is written. I give this piece of paper to him so that he knows how much money should come to his account.

- They say that both of your sons do not drink alcohol at all.

Yes. They are professional tennis players, and there is no place for alcohol in sports.

- Even a glass of wine on vacation?

Vacation is a relative matter. In sports, it is needed to give the head a break and prepare the body for work in the next season. The rest will end in a week or two, then heavy, intense training will resume. Therefore, this time should not be used to drink alcohol. It, like smoking, is completely contraindicated for athletes. In our family, both are absolutely not accepted.

Sasha has said many times that apart from the origin of his parents, nothing connects him with Russia. Is he really more European in his mentality?

My wife and I can be called Russians who live abroad. Many more years will pass, but we will remain Russian. But my children, I think, have become Europeans. Sasha was born in Germany, Misha was born in Moscow, but went abroad at the age of four. However, they have retained many Russian features. For example, they both adore our cuisine. My wife is a wonderful cook, and we often eat Russian dishes. Besides, at home we only speak Russian. I know many examples when families tried to speak a mixture of two languages. In the end, the children forgot Russian anyway. My wife and I didn't want this to happen, so we made this decision. Now the sons speak three languages fluently - Russian, German and English, and can communicate in any country.

In the spring, Sasha made his debut for the German national team in the Davis Cup. Did you feel a surge of national pride in him?

It was very important point for him. Sasha was born and raised in Germany, and has been rooting for this country all his life. In any sport - tennis or football. He himself has been playing for German tennis teams of various ages since the age of 12. And now he has been invited to the national team! Naturally, we were very happy for our son.

Is it true that all of Germany - including influential officials, sponsors and tennis stars - is now behind Sasha, because there are no other bright players in the country?

German tennis federation supported her son to the best of her ability. There is no tournament in the country" Grand Slam", which brings a lot of money to tennis. Therefore, the bulk of the investments in Sasha came from his older brother. The money he earned was spent on renting courts and paying for the most expensive trips to tournaments. Public support - yes, it exists. German fans relate to us very positive, they write warm words in in social networks. This is not surprising: German tennis is at a good level, but does not have any bright stars other than Philipp Kohlschreiber. And then suddenly a strong player appeared, and so young at that. Naturally, there is now great interest in it both from the public and from specialists.

MATCHES FOR THE TEAM BECAME AN EVENT

- You said that you will forever remain Russian in Germany. Was it difficult to settle down in a foreign country?

The fact that we moved abroad as a family made the assimilation process much easier. I received an invitation to work in Germany as a coach more than once, but I refused each time. In 1991, the USSR had already collapsed, the economic situation in the country was not very good, and my wife and I decided to try it. Naturally, at first everyday problems enough. We found ourselves not only in a new country, but also in a completely different system. In addition, they didn’t speak German at all, and they didn’t speak English very well. We started studying with a private teacher and learned the language pretty quickly. Gradually we got used to it, got used to it... When we lived in Germany for ten years, it became clear that there was no point in returning to Russia. And then we simply changed our citizenship.

- Was the Soviet tennis school really so highly rated in the world that you were invited to coach in Germany?

In general, there are many people from the East working in German tennis - Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians. As for your question... You know, the Soviet school of tennis has always been at a high level. Another thing is that politics imposed a lot of restrictions. Because of apartheid, the USSR declared a boycott of South Africa, and therefore we could not take part in the same competitions with South African tennis players. If they came to any tournament, we were obliged to immediately withdraw from it. Soviet players had to mainly perform in socialist countries, and therefore there were almost no great successes.

- You played many matches as part of the USSR national team in the Davis Cup. Which one was the most memorable?

Almost every match for the national team became an event because of its amazing atmosphere. Tennis is an individual sport, you get used to traveling around the world alone and playing for yourself. And here the team gathered and stayed together all week. And from a sporting point of view, the matches were of a high level. Sometimes it was even possible to create a real sensation by beating very strong opponents.

I remember my first Davis Cup match well. I was only 19 years old, I had to play with the Greeks. This team was not among the leaders in world tennis, but the very fact of their debut made them very worried. I performed well then, we won 5:0. Or a play-off match for the right to play in the World League against the Austrian national team in Jurmala! We were losing for a very long time, but then we were able to turn the tide of the match and snatched victory.

The meeting with Israel, which took place in September 1984 in Donetsk, was memorable. It was very difficult, primarily from a psychological point of view. You understand, the damned Zionist regime and so on... They tormented us with constant pumping, they told us straight out: you cannot concede this match! And we still won it. Or an away match with a very strong Argentina team - due to darkness, instead of three days, it stretched into four. Andrei Chesnokov snatched the decisive third point from his opponents on Monday.

- Have there been any exotic trips?

One of the most extreme was the performance in Nigeria, where some fifty thousandth event took place. It was very hot and stuffy, and serious problems arose with food. In addition, I was amazed by the number of cars on the streets. Nowadays traffic jams in Russia do not surprise anyone, but before there was little transport in our country. In Nigeria, everything turned out to be clogged with cars, and no one followed any rules. Everyone rode as they wanted.

- Do you keep in touch with your teammates?

Life has scattered us to different corners of the planet. Previously, my wife and I spent every vacation in Sochi, since we are from there. My brother stayed there, Irina’s parents stayed there. But after Misha began to play professionally, this opportunity disappeared - the main tournaments take place in the summer. I haven't been to Russia for a very long time. But if I suddenly meet with former partners somewhere abroad, I always remember the past with great pleasure.

A German with Russian roots, he has recently touched on the topic of Russia more than once, Soviet Union, Soviet tennis, and it is not surprising that his words every time cause a strong reaction from the fans.

In a recent interview, Sasha praised the tennis school in the Soviet Union that his father and first coach received Alexander Zverev Sr.. “The tennis school in the USSR was very good from a technical point of view. This helped me a lot, because it was my parents who taught me the technique in early years" The Zverev family moved to Germany in 1991 due to the difficult economic situation in the country and since then have not returned to their homeland for more than a few days. “When we lived here for ten years, it became clear that there was no point in moving back to Russia. And then we simply changed our citizenship,” admitted the head of the family. The eldest son of the Zverevs, Mikhail, was born in Sochi, and the youngest Sasha was already in Hamburg.

The love for tennis passed on to the children from their parents: not only the father devoted his whole life to this sport, but also the boys’ mother, Irina Fateeva, played tennis professionally. Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev played for the Soviet Union national team in the Davis Cup, won the European Championship and became the USSR champion seven times (three times in singles). In 1982 and 1984, Zverev took first place in the ranking of Soviet tennis players. At the end of his playing career, he became a coach and worked at CSKA, and then emigrated first to Cologne and then to Hamburg, where he continued his coaching career.

Ours are everywhere. Soviet roots of world tennis

Tennis players with Soviet roots are everywhere. Some have already achieved a lot. Let's talk about the most famous players related to Russia.

“My wife and I can be called Russians who live abroad. Many more years will pass, but we will remain Russian. But Sasha and Misha, I think, have become Europeans,” said the athlete’s father. Zverev Sr. can be understood, since he and his wife spent most of their adult lives in the Soviet Union, and their perception of many things was formed a long time ago. Misha was born during perestroika, so he can be considered a member of the intermediate generation. The same cannot be said about Sasha, who was born in 1997 and is definitely a product of new times. Zverev Sr. never said that he gave his children so-called Soviet equipment, but this is not the first time that the youngest of his sons has emphasized the Soviet background.

“I respect my family’s past, but I don’t consider myself Russian”

Russia seems very big country. Sports car fan Sasha can drive through his native Germany in six hours. He has no idea how many hours it takes to cross Russia - he has never traveled east of Moscow. The last time I was in St. Petersburg was in 2016, when in the final of St. Petersburg Open beat the then third world racket of the Swiss Stan Wawrinka. In St. Petersburg, the young player won the first title in his career, so this victory was special. Despite the fact that everyone in the family speaks Russian, the tennis player does not consider himself a Russian person. “There is nothing Russian about me, because I went to German school, my friends are Germans. It so happened that I had almost no contact with the Russians.” The public received these words ambiguously. Misha spoke out in defense of his younger brother: “He probably more likely meant that he was born in Germany, went to school there kindergarten, school. In this regard, let’s say, he has undergone less changes than me. That’s probably why he said so.”
Alexander Zverev Jr. is upset that his father various reasons failed to realize his potential on the court. During his career, the father of star tennis players won 18 victories in Davis Cup matches (this is the eighth record among Soviet and Russian tennis players during the existence of the tournament). His best position in the ATP rankings was 175th place. In total, he played 21 matches in ATP tournaments (5 wins and 16 losses). “My father was always a very good tennis player, but never had the opportunity to demonstrate it. The reason for this is the political situation in the USSR. Sports and politics should never be linked, and my father paid the price for that. He didn't have permission to travel to tournaments."

Sasha's girlfriend - Olga from Russia

Until recently, nothing was known about Sasha’s personal life. In October 2018, he was spotted with Olga Sharypova. “Obviously, we are just friends,” Zverev joked then. After a while, the doubts evaporated into thin air. Young people posted photos and videos from their joint vacation in the Maldives on social networks.

This year Olga accompanies Sasha at all tournaments where he takes part. Note that the girl could also become a professional tennis player, but for a number of reasons her career on the adult tour did not work out. At the professional level, Sharypova played two matches: in the qualifications of minor ITF tournaments in 2012 and 2018.

Alexander Zverev (Russian: Zverev Alexander Alexandrovich) is a professional German tennis player of Russian origin. Born on April 20, 1997 in Hamburg, Germany, in the family of Soviet tennis player and coach Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev, who moved there with his wife in the early 90s of the 20th century. from the USSR.

From the age of 5, Alexander Zverev, thanks to his father, played tennis. Hard training under the guidance of his father bore fruit - today Sasha (as he is called in Germany) is one of the main hopes of young tennis players in the country.
Alexander's working hand is his right.

Career milestones

Alexander Zverev began playing professionally in 2013, when he lost his first appearance at the Australian Open.

In the same year, he reached the semifinals of the US Open, where he lost to the future champion of the tournament, Croatian Borna Coric. Also reached the 3rd round in Wimbledon tournament, and in the French Open he reached the final, losing the championship to Christian Garin.
Achievements

2014 turned out to be more successful for the young tennis player. He won the Australian Junior Open this year. In the final, Alexander Zverev, seeded number one, won 6-3,6-0 against American Stefan Kozlov, seeded number two.

He won his first ATP Challenger World Tour in Braunshaig, defeating TOP 100 French tennis player Paul-Henri Mathieu on clay.
He also competed in the German Open, where he lost to David Ferrera in the semi-finals. At this tournament, he won for the first time against a tennis player who was in the TOP-20 (Mikhail Youzhny).

1st round (2016) France 3rd round (2016) Wimbledon 3rd round (2016) USA 2nd round (2016) Doubles Highest position 154 (September 19, 2016) Grand Slam tournaments France 1st round (2016) Last update: September 26, 2016

general information

Alexander Zverev Jr. was born into a tennis family of immigrants from Russia. His father is Alexander Zverev Sr., a former professional tennis player who played for the USSR. In 1991, he moved to Germany with his wife Irina and eldest son Misha. Mikhail Zverev also professional tennis player, representing Germany. Now the Zverev family lives in the USA.

Sports career

Alexander Zverev Jr. picked up a racket at the age of 5. His first serious success at the junior level came in 2013, when the German reached the final of Roland Garros, where he lost to Christian Garin. And in January 2014, the athlete won the 2014 Australian Junior Open, beating American Stefan Kozlov with a score of 6-3 6-0.

Over the next six months, Alexander played in Challenger series tournaments. In Braunschweig at the Sparkassen Open tournament, the athlete won his first victory on the ATP Challenger Tour and entered the Top 100 best tennis players peace. In the summer of 2014, Alexander Zverev made his debut on the ATP Tour. At the tournament, held in his native Hamburg, he reached the semi-finals, where he lost to David Ferrer.

On 25 September 2016, he won his first senior ATP World Tour tournament, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the 2016 St. Petersburg Open, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

End of year ranking

Year	Single rating	Doubles rating
	83	343
	136	486
	809
	837

Performances at tournaments

Singles performances

ATP Singles Finals (3)

Victory (1)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0)
ATP Tour Final (0)
ATP Masters 1000 (0)
ATP 500 (0)
ATP 250 (1)

№	date	Tournament	Coating	Opponent in the final	Check
1.	September 25, 2016	Saint-Petersburg, Russia	Hard(i)	Stan Wawrinka	6-2 3-6 7-5

Losses (2)

№	date	Tournament	Coating	Opponent in the final	Check
1.	May 21, 2016	Nice, France	Priming	Dominic Thiem	4-6 6-3 0-6
2.	June 19, 2016	Halle, Germany	Grass	Florian Mayer	2-6 7-5 3-6

Challengers and Futures singles finals (3)

Victories (2)

№	date	Tournament	Coating	Opponent in the final	Check
1.	July 6, 2014	Braunschweig, Germany	Priming	Paul-Henri Mathieu	1-6 6-1 6-4
2.	May 17, 2015	Heilbronn, Germany	Priming	Guido Pella	6-1 7-6(7)

Losses (1)

№	date	Tournament	Coating	Opponent in the final	Check
1.	November 18, 2012	Bradenton, USA	Priming	Florian Rene	0-6 1-6

Performances in doubles

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Excerpt characterizing Zverev, Alexander Alexandrovich (tennis player)

“However, brother, you are angry,” said the count. – Danila said nothing and only smiled shyly, a childishly meek and pleasant smile.

The old count went home; Natasha and Petya promised to come right away. The hunt went on, as it was still early. In the middle of the day, the hounds were released into a ravine overgrown with young, dense forest. Nikolai, standing in the stubble, saw all his hunters.
Opposite from Nikolai there were green fields and there stood his hunter, alone in a hole behind a prominent hazel bush. They had just brought in the hounds when Nikolai heard the rare rutting of a dog he knew, Volthorne; other dogs joined him, then falling silent, then starting to chase again. A minute later, a voice was heard from the island calling for a fox, and the whole flock, falling down, drove along the screwdriver, towards the greenery, away from Nikolai.
He saw horse-dwellers in red hats galloping along the edges of an overgrown ravine, he even saw dogs, and every second he expected a fox to appear on the other side, in the greenery.
The hunter standing in the hole moved and released the dogs, and Nikolai saw a red, low, strange fox, which, fluffing its pipe, hurriedly rushed through the greenery. The dogs began to sing to her. As they approached, the fox began to wag in circles between them, making these circles more and more often and circling its fluffy pipe (tail) around itself; and then someone’s white dog flew in, followed by a black one, and everything got mixed up, and the dogs became a star, with their butts apart, slightly hesitating. Two hunters galloped up to the dogs: one in a red hat, the other, a stranger, in a green caftan.
"What it is? thought Nikolai. Where did this hunter come from? This is not my uncle’s.”
The hunters fought off the fox and stood on foot for a long time, without rushing. Near them, on chumburs, stood horses with their saddles and dogs lying. The hunters waved their hands and did something with the fox. From there the sound of a horn was heard - the agreed signal of a fight.
“It’s the Ilaginsky hunter who is rebelling with our Ivan,” said the eager Nikolai.
Nikolai sent the groom to call his sister and Petya to him and walked at a walk to the place where the riders were collecting the hounds. Several hunters galloped to the scene of the fight.
Nikolai got off his horse and stopped next to the hounds with Natasha and Petya riding up, waiting for information about how the matter would end. A fighting hunter with a fox in torokas rode out from behind the edge of the forest and approached the young master. He took off his hat from afar and tried to speak respectfully; but he was pale, out of breath, and his face was angry. One of his eyes was black, but he probably didn’t know it.
-What did you have there? – Nikolai asked.
- Of course, he will poison from under our hounds! And my mousey bitch caught it. Go and sue! Enough for the fox! I'll give him a ride as a fox. Here she is, in Toroki. Do you want this?...” said the hunter, pointing to the dagger and probably imagining that he was still talking to his enemy.
Nikolai, without talking to the hunter, asked his sister and Petya to wait for him and went to the place where this hostile Ilaginskaya hunt was.
The victorious hunter rode into the crowd of hunters and there, surrounded by sympathetic curious people, told his exploit.
The fact was that Ilagin, with whom the Rostovs were in a quarrel and trial, was hunting in places that, according to custom, belonged to the Rostovs, and now, as if on purpose, he ordered to drive up to the island where the Rostovs were hunting, and allowed him to poison his hunter from under other people’s hounds.
Nikolai never saw Ilagin, but as always, in his judgments and feelings, not knowing the middle, according to rumors about the violence and willfulness of this landowner, he hated him with all his soul and considered him his worst enemy. He now rode towards him, embittered and agitated, tightly clutching the arapnik in his hand, in full readiness for the most decisive and dangerous actions against his enemy.
As soon as he left the ledge of the forest, he saw a fat gentleman in a beaver cap on a beautiful black horse, accompanied by two stirrups, moving towards him.
Instead of an enemy, Nikolai found in Ilagin a personable, courteous gentleman, who especially wanted to get to know the young count. Having approached Rostov, Ilagin lifted his beaver cap and said that he was very sorry for what happened; that he orders to punish the hunter who allowed himself to be poisoned by other people's dogs, asks the count to be acquainted and offers him his places for hunting.
Natasha, afraid that her brother would do something terrible, rode not far behind him in excitement. Seeing that the enemies were bowing in a friendly manner, she drove up to them. Ilagin raised his beaver cap even higher in front of Natasha and, smiling pleasantly, said that the Countess represented Diana both by her passion for hunting and by her beauty, about which he had heard a lot.
Ilagin, in order to make amends for the guilt of his hunter, urgently asked Rostov to go to his eel, which was a mile away, which he kept for himself and in which, according to him, there were hares. Nikolai agreed, and the hunt, having doubled in size, moved on.
It was necessary to walk to the Ilaginsky eel through fields. The hunters straightened out. The gentlemen rode together. Uncle, Rostov, Ilagin secretly glanced at other people's dogs, trying so that others would not notice, and anxiously looked for rivals for their dogs among these dogs.
Rostov was especially struck by her beauty by a small pure-dog, narrow, but with steel muscles, a thin muzzle and bulging black eyes, a red-spotted bitch in Ilagin’s pack. He had heard about the agility of the Ilagin dogs, and in this beautiful bitch he saw his Milka’s rival.
In the middle of a sedate conversation about this year's harvest, which Ilagin started, Nikolai pointed out to him his red-spotted bitch.
- This bitch is good! – he said in a casual tone. - Rezva?
- This? Yes, this is a good dog, it catches,” Ilagin said in an indifferent voice about his red-spotted Erza, for which a year ago he gave his neighbor three families of servants. “So you, Count, don’t boast about threshing?” – he continued the conversation he had started. And considering it polite to repay the young count in kind, Ilagin examined his dogs and chose Milka, who caught his eye with her width.

In 2018, Alexander Zverev Jr. made a breakthrough at Grand Slam tournaments. He reached the quarterfinals at the French Open. In addition, Sasha reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters. He is in fifth place in the world rankings, confidently moving forward. From the name it becomes clear that Zverev is Russian, but the tennis player plays for Germany. The thing is that his family moved to Hamburg before the birth of his son. Alexander practically never visits Russia, but speaks his parents’ native language fluently.

Sport family

Sasha's whole life is connected with tennis. His father Alexander Zverev Sr. is an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. He played for the national team at the Davis Cup and won 12 matches in singles. The Soviet champion married tennis player Irina. In the marriage, the athletes had a son, Misha, who also began to perform successfully on the court. When he was three years old, the family moved to Germany. There, in 1997, Alexander Zverev Jr. was born.

“When we left, the economic situation in Russia was very bad. After living in Germany for ten years, we realized that there was no point in returning home. And we simply changed our citizenship,” recalls Zverev Sr.

Sasha picked up a racket when he was just a year and a half old. As the father says, no one forced children to follow in the footsteps of their parents. They themselves chose this path. At the age of 6, Alexander was already training seriously and soon began playing for the German national team. By 2014, he became the number one junior racket by winning the Australian Open.

The first significant victories of Sasha Zverev

The tennis player does not have a special nickname. Fans of the German with Russian roots simply call him Sascha Zverev. The athlete was noticed in the major leagues when he won his first ATP tournament Challenger. At 17 years and 2 months, Zverev became the youngest holder of this title. Before him, he was a champion.

Victories soon followed at the German Open, where Alexander was able to defeat Robin Hase and. The following year, 2015, the tennis player performed successfully at the tournament in Munich. There he reached the semi-finals. Taken together, all achievements allowed Sasha to get into the top 50. He signed a successful contract with the brand and has since performed only in their equipment.

Alexander plays a lot in Germany. The athlete's native land apparently influences the result. In 2016, at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Zverev beat one of best players– . The St. Petersburg Open Championship also turned out to be a victory. Then Sasha came to Russia for the first time in 10 years. He defeated Stanislas Wawrinka, who at that time was the third racket in the world.

A year later, Alexander Zverev Jr. himself became third. This was preceded by the third round Open Championship Australia, victory at the Southern French Open and the first Masters 1000 quarterfinal in Miami. During the year, Sasha moved up, beating Marin Cilic. Having won, he became the first tennis player born in the 1990s to receive the Masters 1000 title. In an interview, the champion talked about how much he was worried about playing with the best tennis players:

“The first time you meet Federer, Murray or Djokovic, you will be nervous. But after a while they become regular opponents, people you see every week. That's how you should think. You can't think of them as legends. You have to treat every opponent the same.”

Anxiety also affects the behavior of a tennis player. Sasha Zverev has repeatedly called the judges names, considering their decisions to be incorrect. The athlete says that they are preventing him from playing and hurls insults. All this can be attributed to his young age and extreme stress, because he competes with the best. Although before the final match at the tournament in Shanghai in October 2019, Zverev spoke very respectfully towards Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev:

“He's playing fantastic. Sixth final in a row, final at the US Open, title in Cincinnati. He's probably the best tennis player in the world right now."

Becoming a Master

Working with his father, Alexander Zverev was able to receive the most prestigious awards. The coaching team also included Spanish tennis player Juan Carlos Ferrero. Since 2018, Sasha has been working with Ivan Lendl. With him, the athlete again reached the third round of the Australian Open. In the Davis Cup match against Australia, Zverev helped the German team reach the quarterfinals. At the Miami Masters tournament, the champion also beat David Ferrer, but was unable to defeat American John Isner in the final. However, he managed to regain the championship in Madrid. Then followed landmark victory over Russian Karen Khachanov at the French Open, which allowed him to advance to the quarterfinals.

In general, 2018 can only be considered an asset for a tennis player with a stretch. The only more or less serious success was his victory in the final match of the clay tournament in Madrid, which he won over Dominic Thiem on May 13.

2019 turned out to be richer in events in terms of gaming; the standings included victories in various second- and third-hand tournaments over the Slovenian Aljaža Bedene, the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and the Australian Alex Bolta. The main success came at the Geneva Open tennis tournament, where Zverev beat Chilean Jarry Nicolas with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8). Surely this is not the last achievement of the tennis player. Sasha is only 22 years old, there is time to move on.

On October 13, 2019, Zverev had every chance to win his first major title. In the Masters final in Shanghai, he faced Daniil Medvedev from Russia. The previous four matches ended in favor of the German national, so this time we should have expected a victory. But the Russian tennis player prevailed and continued his successful 2019.