189 Facts About Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev has won 23 ATP Tour titles in singles and two in doubles, and has been runner-up at three majors.

Alexander Zverev had an early breakthrough on the professional tour as well, becoming one of the youngest Challenger Tour title winners in history at the age of 17.

At the Laver Cup, Alexander Zverev has played an instrumental role in Team Europe's early success in the competition, winning the clinching matches in 2018 and 2019.

Alexander Zverev was born on 20 April 1997 in Hamburg, Germany, to Russian parents Irina Zvereva and Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev.

Alexander Zverev's older brother, Mischa, born nearly a decade earlier, was a professional tennis player.

Alexander Zverev's father, ranked as high as No 175 in the world, became the top-ranked men's player nationally, while his mother was the fourth-highest-ranked women's player in the Soviet Union.

Alexander Zverev played hockey and football as a child but decided to focus only on tennis around the age of 12 after an early-round loss at a high-level international junior tournament in Florida.

Alexander Zverev's coaches aimed for him to have a riskier, aggressive playing style built around hitting the ball with pace and finishing points quickly.

Alexander Zverev "made a lot of errors" and lost to opponents who excelled at keeping points alive.

Alexander Zverev played his first junior match in January 2011 at the age of 13 at a grade 4 tournament in Poland.

Alexander Zverev entered his first event on the International Tennis Federation junior circuit in early 2011 when he was 13.

Alexander Zverev would pick up a lower level Grade 5 title at the Oman International Junior 2 a few weeks later, which led him to begin competing in higher-level events shortly before his 15th birthday.

Alexander Zverev did not have much success at tournaments that were Grade 2 and above until the following year when he reached back-to-back doubles finals with Spencer Papa at the Grade A Copa Gerdau and the Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships.

Alexander Zverev followed up that performance with his first Grade A title at the Trofeo Bonfiglio a month later, becoming the youngest boys' singles champion in the tournament's history.

Alexander Zverev finished runner-up at the 2013 French Open to Cristian Garin.

Alexander Zverev had some grass court success as well, finishing runner-up to Nick Kyrgios at the Junior International Roehampton.

Alexander Zverev came close to reaching another major boys' singles final at the 2013 Junior US Open, but was defeated by the eventual champion Borna Coric in the semifinals.

Alexander Zverev played just two tournaments in 2014, both in Australia in January.

At the age of 14, Alexander Zverev entered qualifying at three different tournaments, including the 2011 Moselle Open on the ATP Tour, but lost all of his matches.

Alexander Zverev won his professional main draw debut against compatriot Christian Lichtenegger at a Futures event in Germany in August 2012.

Alexander Zverev continued to focus on the juniors in 2013 and did not reach another pro-level final that year, but he did make his main draw debut on the ATP Tour in July, losing to Roberto Bautista Agut at his hometown tournament, the International German Open.

Alexander Zverev did not win a main draw match until he recorded a single victory at the Heilbronner Neckarcup Challenger, his tenth event of the year.

Alexander Zverev followed up this title with a breakthrough at the ATP Tour level.

Alexander Zverev entered the International German Open having never won an ATP match but managed to reach the semifinals.

Alexander Zverev recorded four match wins at the event, including his first career victory against Robin Haase and his first top 20 victory over No 16 Mikhail Youzhny before losing to No 7 David Ferrer.

Alexander Zverev became the first 17-year old to defeat a top 20 opponent since Richard Gasquet in 2004 and the first to make a semifinal since Marin Cilic in 2006.

Alexander Zverev had risen from No 665 to No 285 after his Challenger title, and his ATP 500 Series semifinal appearance took him to No 161 in the world.

Alexander Zverev needed to enter qualifying for ATP events throughout the year.

Alexander Zverev did not qualify for either of the first two major singles events of the season.

Alexander Zverev was able to qualify for his first Masters event at the Miami Open and reached the second round.

Alexander Zverev lost in the next round to Denis Kudla.

Alexander Zverev opted to play on clay after Wimbledon and reached another ATP semifinal at the Swedish Open to put him back in the top 100 after one week out.

Alexander Zverev succeeded, but lost his opening round match to compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber in five sets.

Alexander Zverev won just one more main draw match the rest of the season and ended the year ranked No 83 in the world.

Alexander Zverev bounced back at the Open Sud de France, reaching the semifinals in the singles event and his second career final with his brother in the doubles event.

Alexander Zverev then produced a strong result at the Indian Wells Masters, where he defeated two top 30 players.

Alexander Zverev had a match point while he was serving for the final set, but missed a routine forehand volley and then proceeded to lose 14 of the remaining 15 points in the match.

Alexander Zverev was the first teenager to defeat Federer since Murray nearly a decade earlier.

Alexander Zverev was then upset in the second round of the US Open by Dan Evans.

In doing so, Alexander Zverev became the first teenager to record three consecutive victories against top ten opponents since Boris Becker in 1986.

Alexander Zverev stated that only his close family can refer to him as Sascha, as he was born in Germany and identifies as a German, and does not want a Russian nickname to be used for his professional career.

At the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev again pushed Rafael Nadal to the brink, but ultimately lost in five sets.

Alexander Zverev then followed up a second Masters quarterfinal at the Madrid Open with his first Masters title at the Rome Masters.

Alexander Zverev defeated Novak Djokovic in the final to become the youngest Masters champion since Djokovic in 2007 and the first such champion born in the 1990s.

Alexander Zverev won the Washington Open as well as a second consecutive Masters title at the Canadian Open, only dropping a single set at each tournament in each of his opening matches.

Alexander Zverev then defeated Roger Federer in the final to become the first player outside of the Big Four to win multiple Masters titles in the same season since David Nalbandian in 2007.

Alexander Zverev opted to skip the former event to focus on the latter.

At the ATP Finals, Alexander Zverev was grouped with Roger Federer, Marin Cilic, and Jack Sock.

Alexander Zverev defeated Cilic in his first match, but lost his final two matches and did not advance out of his round robin group.

Alexander Zverev finished the year ranked No 4, peaking at No 3 right before the ATP Finals, and accumulated five ATP titles from just six finals.

Alexander Zverev was upset at the Australian Open by reigning Next Gen Finals champion and No 59 Chung Hyeon in five sets in the third round.

Alexander Zverev stated that issues at majors were "definitely not physical" when asked if his problems were physical or mental, and attribute this lack of success to the extra pressure he was putting on himself at these events.

Alexander Zverev continued his Masters success into the clay-court season, reaching the semifinals at the Monte Carlo Masters, winning his third career Masters title at the Madrid Open, and making the final at the Rome Masters.

Alexander Zverev came close to winning back-to-back Masters events, going up a break in the third set against Nadal at the Italian Open.

Alexander Zverev had defended his title at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships in his only other French Open tune-up to help build up a 13 match win streak that lasted until the Italian Open final.

Alexander Zverev capped off his excellent clay court season by reaching his first major quarterfinal at the French Open.

Alexander Zverev needed to win three five-set matches to get that far before Thiem ended his run while he was faced with a hamstring injury.

Up until the year-end championships, Alexander Zverev struggled to build on his early season success.

Alexander Zverev lost in the third round at both Wimbledon and the US Open, and his best result at the four remaining Masters events was a semifinal at the Shanghai Masters.

Alexander Zverev was able to defend his title at the Washington Open, his only title during this period.

Alexander Zverev reached two more doubles finals with his brother, but did not win either of them.

Alexander Zverev was placed in a group with Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, and John Isner.

Alexander Zverev faced Federer in the semifinals and defeated him in straight sets to set up a rematch with Djokovic.

Alexander Zverev became the youngest tour champion since Djokovic a decade earlier and the first German to win the season-ending championships since Boris Becker in 1995.

Alexander Zverev opened his 2019 season with a fourth round appearance at the 2019 Australian Open, defeating Jeremy Chardy in five sets in the second round before losing to Milos Raonic in straight sets.

Alexander Zverev next played at the Mexican Open and finished runner-up to Nick Kyrgios.

Alexander Zverev then went on to defeat No 12 Fabio Fognini and reach his second consecutive quarterfinal at the French Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

Alexander Zverev did not follow through on that success into the grass court season, where his best result was a quarterfinal at the Halle Open.

Alexander Zverev was upset in the first round at both the Stuttgart Open and Wimbledon, the latter of which to qualifier Jiri Vesely.

Alexander Zverev attributed his early season struggles to being distracted by a legal dispute with his former agent Patricio Apey, with whom he had split from in the offseason.

Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals of the German Open and the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open.

Alexander Zverev then reached the last 16 at the US Open for the first time, where he lost to seed No 20 Diego Schwartzman to continue his lack of success at the major tournaments.

At the event, Alexander Zverev was drawn into a round-robin group with Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev.

Alexander Zverev defeated Nadal for the first time in his opening match before losing to Tsitsipas.

Alexander Zverev then won his match against Medvedev, which he had needed to win to advance via the tiebreak criteria.

Alexander Zverev began his 2020 season at the inaugural ATP Cup.

Alexander Zverev then defeated Egor Gerasimov, Fernando Verdasco, and 17th seed Andrey Rublev to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set.

Alexander Zverev defeated 15th seed and 2014 champion, Stan Wawrinka, in the quarterfinals in four sets to reach his first major singles semifinal.

Alexander Zverev fell in his semifinal match to fifth seed, Dominic Thiem, in four sets.

Alexander Zverev defeated Kevin Anderson in four sets, then beat 19-year old Brandon Nakashima in four sets.

Alexander Zverev became the runner-up, losing the final in a final-set tiebreaker despite leading by two sets and twice coming within two points of the title in the final set.

Alexander Zverev beat Dennis Novak, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, and Marco Cecchinato, before losing in four sets to Jannik Sinner.

Alexander Zverev then reached the final of the Paris Masters, beating Nadal in straight sets in the semifinals, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev in three sets.

Alexander Zverev's run ended in the quarterfinals, where he lost to the eventual champion and world No 1 Novak Djokovic.

Alexander Zverev continued his performances in Acapulco, where he won his 14th ATP title by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.

At his first tournament in 2021 on clay in Monte Carlo, Alexander Zverev finished in the third round, losing to David Goffin.

At the Madrid Open, Alexander Zverev defeated Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, and Matteo Berrettini en route to his fourth Masters 1000 title and 15th career title.

Alexander Zverev reached the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 in Rome, losing to eventual tournament winner Rafael Nadal.

Alexander Zverev was defeated in the fourth round by Felix Auger-Aliassime in five sets.

At the Olympics, Alexander Zverev beat Yen-hsun Lu, Daniel Elahi Galan, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Jeremy Chardy to reach the semifinals.

Alexander Zverev became the first German man to win a gold medal in singles and the first to win a medal since Tommy Haas won his silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Alexander Zverev had not won a match at the tournament in six prior appearances.

Alexander Zverev beat Andrey Rublev for the 17th title of his career and the fourth of the season, in 59 minutes, the shortest match in the tournament history.

At the US Open, Alexander Zverev sought to claim his first major title following his run to the final the previous year.

Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals following wins over Jack Sock and Lloyd Harris.

Alexander Zverev was seeded 3rd at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open, where he reached the quarterfinals.

Alexander Zverev lost to Taylor Fritz, despite having two match points.

Alexander Zverev then beat Felix Auger-Aliassime and Carlos Alcaraz to reach the final where he won his fifth title of the year and 18th overall, defeating Frances Tiafoe in straight sets.

Alexander Zverev was the fourth seed at the 2021 Rolex Paris Masters.

Alexander Zverev received a bye into the second round, where he defeated Dusan Lajovic.

Alexander Zverev defeated next sixteenth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round and sixth seed Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals.

Alexander Zverev lost in the semifinals to second seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.

Alexander Zverev began his campaign by defeating home favourite Matteo Berrettini who retired with an injury.

Alexander Zverev started his 2022 season by representing Germany at the ATP Cup.

Alexander Zverev lost in the semifinals to third seed, world No 5, defending champion, and eventual champion, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in straight sets.

Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals with a straight set win over eighth seed and world No 10, Felix Auger-Aliassime, in the quarterfinals, after a tough three sets match win over Marin Cilic in the second round and Lorenzo Musetti's retirement in the third round due to a leg injury.

Alexander Zverev lost his semifinal match to Tsitsipas in three sets.

Alexander Zverev was rolled off the court in a wheelchair.

Alexander Zverev informed that the injury would cause him to miss the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and on 8 June 2022 underwent surgery to repair the torn ligaments in his ankle.

Alexander Zverev ended the year ranked 12, his lowest in five years, when he debuted in the top 10 and remained a fixture there.

Alexander Zverev began his early US hard court campaign at the Indian Wells Masters.

Alexander Zverev prevailed over Etcheverry in four sets to reach his third consecutive semi-final at this tournament.

Alexander Zverev fell in his semi-final match to world No 4 and last year finalist, Casper Ruud, in straight sets.

Alexander Zverev began his grass season by withdrawing from the BOSS Open in Stuttgart due to a thigh injury that he picked up during his semifinal match at Roland Garros.

At Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev lost in third round to Matteo Berrettini.

In Bastad, Alexander Zverev lost in the quarterfinals to Andrey Rublev.

Alexander Zverev won the Hamburg European Open, defeating Laslo Djere in the final.

Alexander Zverev interpreted this as carrying Nazi sentiment and told officials that the fan had shouted, "the most famous Hitler phrase".

Alexander Zverev lost the quarterfinals match against Carlos Alcaraz after winning a 4-hour 40 minutes five-set match against Jannik Sinner.

Alexander Zverev followed this result with a semifinals showing in Beijing, losing to Danill Medvedev in their 5th meeting of the year.

Alexander Zverev failed to qualify for the semifinals after Alcaraz and Medvedev were more successful in terms of win-loss percentage in sets, ending his 2023 season.

Alexander Zverev then achieved his first-ever win against a top-5 player at a Grand Slam, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in four sets in the quarterfinals, to make his first Australian Open semifinal appearance since 2020.

Alexander Zverev subsequently lost to Danill Medvedev, despite being two sets to love up.

Alexander Zverev's defeat marked only his second loss from being up two sets to love in a 5-set match, his first being against Dominic Thiem in the final of the 2020 US Open.

Alexander Zverev began his 2024 clay season seeded fifth at the Monte-Carlo Masters, receiving a bye into the second round and defeating Sebastian Ofner before losing to eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round.

Alexander Zverev reached his fourth consecutive French Open semifinal with wins over Rafael Nadal, David Goffin, Tallon Griekspoor, Holger Rune, and Alex de Minaur.

Alexander Zverev then defeated two-time finalist Casper Ruud to reach his first Major final since the 2020 US Open and his first on clay.

Alexander Zverev would go on to lose the fifth set, giving up his two-sets-to-one lead, and is therefore still chasing his maiden slam title.

At Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev beat Roberto Carballes Baena, Marcos Giron, and Cameron Norrie before losing to Taylor Fritz in the fourth round.

Back on clay, Alexander Zverev reached the final at the 2024 Hamburg Open, losing to Arthur Fils in three sets.

At the 2024 Rolex Paris Masters, Alexander Zverev defeated Tallon Griekspoor, Arthur Fils, and Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up a semifinal clash with former champion Holger Rune.

Alexander Zverev won the match in straight sets to reach the final for the second time at this event.

Alexander Zverev defeated home crowd favorite Ugo Humbert in the final to clinch his second Masters 1000 trophy of the season and the World No 2 ranking.

Alexander Zverev won all three of his group matches at the ATP Finals to reach the semifinals, where he lost to Taylor Fritz in a deciding set tie-break.

Alexander Zverev then went on to reach his first final at the major, with Novak Djokovic retiring due to injury in the pair's semifinals meeting.

Alexander Zverev lost to top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner in the finals.

Alexander Zverev took part in the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague in 2017.

Alexander Zverev played a more crucial role in 2018 and 2019, winning the clinching matches in both editions against Kevin Anderson and Milos Raonic respectively.

Alexander Zverev made his Davis Cup debut for Germany against the Czech Republic in 2016.

Alexander Zverev faced No 7 Tomas Berdych in his debut match and took a two sets to one lead before ultimately losing in five sets.

However, Spain ultimately won the tie on the final day after Alexander Zverev was unable to defeat Nadal and Kohlschreiber lost a tight five-set match to Ferrer.

Alexander Zverev represented Germany at the Hopman Cup for four consecutive years from 2016 through 2019 with three different partners.

The duo won their tie against the French team, with Alexander Zverev winning both his singles and mixed doubles matches.

Alexander Zverev had much more success in 2018 and 2019 when he paired up with Angelique Kerber.

Alexander Zverev represented Germany at the ATP Cup in 2020 and 2021.

Alexander Zverev started his 2023 season by representing Germany at the first edition of the United Cup.

Alexander Zverev was defeated in the second round by American and lucky loser, Michael Mmoh, in four sets.

In 2024, Alexander Zverev returned to the United Cup in Sydney, Australia for the second consecutive year, leading Team Germany alongside Angelique Kerber.

Alexander Zverev won both of his singles matches in the round-robin stage, defeating Lorenzo Sonego of Italy and Adrian Mannarino of France both in three sets.

Alexander Zverev played both mixed doubles matches in both ties with Angelique Kerber, partnering for the first time since 2019, and won against Team Italy but not Team France.

Alexander Zverev then participated in the mixed doubles match with Siegemund, against Australia's Storm Hunter and Matthew Ebden.

Alexander Zverev often stands way back behind the baseline and aims to hit powerful groundstrokes either for winners or to wear down his opponent.

Alexander Zverev can generate a lot of power off it with high accuracy, and his ability to absorb pace makes it one of the best shots in the modern game for rally tolerance.

Alexander Zverev often uses a semi-open stance and employs a western grip on his forehand.

Alexander Zverev is often criticized for being too passive and having a weaker forehand than that of other top 10 players.

The year Alexander Zverev first broke into the top 20, he was still not one of the better servers on tour, ranking just 38th in serve rating.

Alexander Zverev's second serve has been a weakness for him in his earlier years, yet he has managed to turn it into a consistent strength.

Alexander Zverev hit the most double faults on tour in 2016 and 2020.

Alexander Zverev is an all-court player and does not aim to be better on any surface in particular.

Alexander Zverev was tall but skinny and not very muscular when growing up.

Alexander Zverev started to absorb the power, so when someone hit hard he could hit the ball back and everything locked into place.

Alexander Zverev has been coached by his parents since he was very young.

Alexander Zverev's mother was initially his primary coach before his father took over at some point.

Alexander Zverev made the decision to hire former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Washington Open in the summer of 2017.

Alexander Zverev fired Ferrero following the 2018 Australian Open after Ferrero criticized the rest of Zverev's coaching team.

Alexander Zverev has stated that Lendl was more interested in his dog or his golf game than in professional coaching.

In 2020, Alexander Zverev started to work with former World Number 3 and 2013 French Open Finalist David Ferrer.

However, one week later, Alexander Zverev was captured on video at a party in Monaco, prompting criticism from fellow tennis players Nick Kyrgios and Katie Boulter.

Sharypova named multiple instances where Alexander Zverev allegedly became violent towards her, including punching her in the face during an argument that took place in the pair's hotel room while Alexander Zverev was competing at the 2019 Laver Cup.

Sharypova said she went to take a shower, during which Alexander Zverev continued berating her from outside the bathroom door.

Alexander Zverev said that he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against the hard tile wall of the bathroom.

Alexander Zverev secured an injunction from a Berlin court against Slate later in August 2021, barring it from publishing the assault allegations without stronger evidence.

Alexander Zverev was defaulted from the tournament, forfeiting all points and prize money that he had won thus far.

Alexander Zverev received the maximum fine of $40,000 by the ATP, an additional $25,000 fine, and a suspended eight-week ban.

Alexander Zverev lodged an appeal against the order which, under German law, results in a public trial.

Alexander Zverev said that during a dispute in May 2020, Zverev pushed her into a wall and choked her.

In January 2024, Alexander Zverev was appointed to serve on the ATP Players Advisory Council.

Also in January 2024, Alexander Zverev was featured on the second season of the Netflix series Break Point in an episode focused on his comeback from injury.

At the beginning of the 2024 Australian Open, a court official announced that Alexander Zverev was scheduled to face trial in the Berlin Criminal Court, beginning in May 2024.

The timing of the announcement, combined with Alexander Zverev's semifinal run at the tournament, brought heightened interest in and scrutiny of the allegations from both the press and the public.

Alexander Zverev grew up in Hamburg and has spent his winters living in Florida at the Saddlebrook Academy.

Alexander Zverev has a daughter Mayla, born in 2021, with Brenda Patea, an ex-girlfriend.

Since 2021, Alexander Zverev has been dating German actress Sophia Thomalla.

In 2017, Alexander Zverev said his tennis idol is Roger Federer.

Alexander Zverev is a fan of the Miami Heat of the American National Basketball Association and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, and in his spare time he enjoys playing basketball and golf.

Alexander Zverev is close friends with Dominic Thiem and Andrey Rublev, the latter of whom he has known since childhood.

Alexander Zverev filed a lawsuit against the ACE Group International and its CEO Patricio Apey, accusing them of "unlawful restraint of trade".

Alexander Zverev argued that the contract between them was oppressive, but eventually agreed to settle the dispute out-of-court before the trial began.

Tournament organizers later clarified that Alexander Zverev would be permitted to inject insulin on-court.