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Alexander Zverev - Shanghai Masters 2024, Ivan Lendl - Australian Open 2017

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Alexander Zverev reignites feud with former coach after claiming he needed ‘to concentrate on tennis more’

Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
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Alexander Zverev has made a dig at former coach Ivan Lendl, with the German speaking about a potential future partnership with compatriot Boris Becker.Zverev has had an impressive on-court season in 2024, winning two Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Paris, as well as reaching his second Grand Slam final at
Roland Garros.This has enabled Zverev to match his career-high of World No.2, with his father Alexander Zverev Senior currently his coach.
The 27-year-old has not always just been coached by his father, having previously worked with Juan Carlos Ferrero, Ivan Lendl and most recently David Ferrer. Zverev split from Lendl back in 2019, and proceeded to speak about how he was not happy with his coaches focus during training sessions. “We talked about it and I told him to concentrate on tennis more,” Zverev said back in 2019. “Sometimes we go to the tennis court, the training is two hours long, and for half-an-hour he stands with his back to me talking about the way he played golf the morning before.” Lendl also had some criticism for Zverev at the time, suggesting that he had some work to do away from the court, “I have a lot of belief in Sascha [Zverev] who is still very young. I think that one day he may become a great player but currently he has some off court issues that make it difficult to working a way that is consistent with my philosophy.” And now in an interview with Germany’s Tennis Magazine, Zverev has reignited this feud with Lendl after once again suggesting that his priorities were elsewhere. “He [Lendl] got a new dog and was showing him how to go to the toilet,” said Zverev. “That was really his main topic. And golf.” Both Zverev and Lendl will be down under for the Australian Open next year, after the latter was announced to be joining Hubert Hurkacz’s team alongside two-time Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu.
While Zverev is still working with his father, the 23-time title winner has not ruled out a partnership with former World No.1 Boris Becker in the future, “I love Boris and I also believe that he has incredible knowledge of tennis. But I don’t know how he travels. That’s the only question mark. “As soon as he has solved that and clarified it, we can talk about it. We are always in contact with him and talk to each other often. Now for  Australia, it will stay as it is and then I’ll see.” Becker has previously worked with Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune, but faces some travel restrictions after being imprisoned in the United Kingdom for bankruptcy fraud back in 2022.Inside the baseline…It is clear that there is no love lost between Alexander Zverev and Ivan Lendl, but it is interesting that the German still wants to continue it on over five years on from splitting with his former mentor. With Lendl now coaching Hubert Hurkacz, it would be very interesting to see if they play each other next year, as it would add a completely different dynamic to the somewhat ordinary matchup.
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