‘He was the best coach I had’ – Alexander Zverev names former world number three as top mentor
Alexander Zverev has been coached by a number of former top pros so far in his career, revealing the best of the bunch in a recent interview.
The world number three was briefly coached by former world number one and 2003 Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in late 2017 and early 2018, and later worked with eight-time Slam champion Ivan Lendl for a year also.
But it was former world number three and 2013 Roland Garros finalist David Ferrer that Zverev has named as the best coach he has had, besides of course his father Alexander Zverev Sr.
“[My father] is better than [Ivan] Lendl,” Zverev told German publication Tennis Magazine.
“For me, that’s not a question at all. I think it was an experience for me to see what and how other coaches think about my tennis.
“For me, besides my father, [David] Ferrer was the best coach I had in my life. But unfortunately we had to stop last year due to the Covid situation. He’s the only one I’d say I’d try again with.”
Ferrer worked with Zverev from 2020 until January 2021, during which time the German reached his first Slam final at the 2020 US Open.
While Zverev once claimed that Lendl was “more interested in talking about golf and his dog than tennis,” the German also admits that the two simply did not gel.
“It didn’t work out well with Lendl. It’s not a secret. Personally, we may not have been a good match either,” he explained.
“We just saw things differently on the tennis court, during training sessions. I am someone in my sport too, I am a personality.
“I am not someone who says yes and amen to everything. I also challenge opinions very often, I always ask why you see it that way and sometimes say, I see it differently.
“You can’t join my team and turn my life and career upside down just because you have a different opinion than me.”
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