Top
Alexander Zverev Roland Garros 2019

No love lost as Alexander Zverev splits from coach Ivan Lendl


World No.5 Alexander Zverev has separated form his high profile coach Ivan Lendl after just a year together with neither party bothering to hide their feelings of disappointment

 

Alexander Zverev mist feel like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders right now after yet another announcement that he undoubtedly didn’t want to be making so soon. Him and his coach, Czech tennis legend Ivan Lendl, will no longer be working together after just over 12 months as a team.

Various reports are putting the blame on both parties and rather surprisingly neither coach nor player seem worried about hiding their feelings on the reason for the split. However, Boris Becker has shed some light on the reason for the split.

Zverev is being reported as saying in his press conference at the Hamburg Open that, “We talked about it and I told him to concentrate on tennis more. 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, in typically honest fashion, has shot back at Zverev saying the following, “I have a lot of belief in Sascha 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.”

Alexander Zverev is currently playing in the Hamburg Open where he’s reached the quarter final and will today play Filip Krajinovic for a semi-final where he would play either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Jeremy Chardy. Dominic Thiem is the top seed and he plays Andrey Rublev in his quarter final with the winner set to face either Fabio Fognini or Pablo Carreno Busta in the semi-final.

Zverev is using a brand new racket for the first time this week and you can win one in our exclusive competition. 

Look ahead to the rest of 2019 with our guides to every tournament on the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour. If you can’t visit the tournaments you love then do the next best thing and read our guide on how to watch all the ATP Tour matches on television in 2019. To read more amazing articles like this you can explore Tennishead magazine here or you can subscribe for free to our email newsletter here


Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.