Alexander Zverev (tennis player, born 1997)

Early life

Zverev was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1997. Both his parents, Alexander Sr. and Irina are former Russian tennis players, with his father having competed professionally for the Soviet Union. Zverev's older brother, Mischa, is also a professional tennis player.

Junior career

Between October 2013 and June 2014, Zverev was the No. 1 ranked boys junior player. As a junior, he compiled a singles win/loss record of 96–35.

Zverev reached the final of the 2013 French Open juniors, losing to Christian Garín. After losing in the third round of the 2013 Jr. Wimbledon Championships, he reached the semifinals of the 2013 Jr. US Open, losing to the eventual champion, Borna Ćorić.

Zverev won the 2014 Jr. Australian Open as the top seed, defeating second seed, Stefan Kozlov in the final.

2014: Semifinals at Hamburg

In the first six months, Zverev competed in 10 Challenger tournaments, only qualifying for five. He also entered five ATP 250 events, but was unable to qualify for any of the main draws (although he did receive a wildcard for the Bavarian International Tennis Championships).

Zverev won his first ATP Challenger Tour title at the Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig, defeating three players ranked within the top 100. He defeated No. 87 Tobias Kamke in the first round, top seed and No. 56 Andrey Golubev in the semifinals, and No. 89 Paul-Henri Mathieu in the final. At 17 years and 2 months, Zverev became the youngest player to win a Challenger tournament since Bernard Tomic won the Maccabi Men's Challenger in 2009.

The following week he received a wildcard for the Stuttgart Open, and lost to the eventual runner up Lukáš Rosol in two tiebreaker sets.

Zverev won his first ATP tour-level match at the 2014 International German Open when he beat Robin Haase. He beat 5th seed Mikhail Youzhny in the second round for his first career win over a top 20 player. He defeated 11th seed Santiago Giraldo in the round of the last 16, and went on to beat Tobias Kamke in the quarterfinals. He then lost against David Ferrer in the semi-finals.

2015: Top-100

At the 2015 Miami Open, Zverev defeated Thiemo de Bakker and João Souza in qualification, and won over Sam Groth in the first round to progress to the second round, where he was defeated by 26th seed Lukáš Rosol. At Munich he defeated Benjamin Becker in the first round, and was defeated by eventual runner-up Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round.

Zverev reached the semifinals of the Open du Pays d'Aix ATP Challenger tournament in May, where he lost to the eventual runner-up Paul-Henri Mathieu.

The following week, Zverev won an ATP Challenger Tour title at Heilbronn in Germany. He defeated Guido Pella in the final. En route to his title win in Heilbronn, he defeated the defending champion and No. 90 Jan-Lennard Struff in the semifinals. As a result of this tournament win, Zverev moved into the Top 100 for the first time, rising to a career-high ATP ranking of No. 85.

At the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham, he defeated Mikhail Kukushkin and Thomaz Bellucci to reach the round of 16 where he was defeated by Marcos Baghdatis. As a result of this, Zverev achieved a new career-high ATP ranking of No. 74.

At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, Zverev made it to the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, automatically qualifying as a top 100 ranked player. In the first round, Zverev was drawn against Teymuraz Gabashvili, whom he defeated in a thrilling five set match to record his first Grand Slam win, and book his place in the second round. He was then defeated by American wildcard Denis Kudla (who went on to reach the fourth round) in four sets.

Zverev next participated at the 2015 Swedish Open, where he defeated qualifier Julian Reister, and fourth seed Juan Mónaco to progress to the quarterfinals, where he defeated Thomaz Bellucci in three sets, despite being a set and a break down. In the semifinals he was defeated by second seed and eventual runner-up, Tommy Robredo. In his next tournament, the International German Open, Zverev was drawn against Tommy Robredo in a rematch of the Swedish Open semifinal. Despite winning the first set in a tiebreak, Zverev ultimately lost, marking his second consecutive defeat to the Spaniard.

Zverev next competed at the 2015 Citi Open, where he defeated qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka, fifth seed Kevin Anderson and Alexandr Dolgopolov en route to the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by third seed Marin Čilić in two close sets.

He qualified for the 2015 US Open and lost a close five-set match to fellow German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

2016: Top-20 ranking and first ATP title

Zverev represented Germany at the 2016 Hopman Cup with Sabine Lisicki. He was beaten by Nick Kyrgios and Andy Murray in singles matches, however recorded a win over French player Kenny de Schepper. In the first round of the Australian Open he lost to second seed Andy Murray in straight sets. He reached his first ATP semifinal of the year at the Open Sud de France in Montpelier, upsetting 2014 US Open champion and world No. 13 Marin Čilić in the second round, before losing to French player Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the latter match he was warned for a code violation after swearing at the chair umpire.

The next tournament Zverev played was in Rotterdam, category ATP 500. After beating Vasek Pospisil and world No. 15 Gilles Simon, he lost to Gaël Monfils in the quarterfinals. In March, Zverev played for Germany in the Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic. He lost in a five-setter to Tomáš Berdych. In the deciding match, he lost in straight sets to Lukáš Rosol. In Indian Wells, Zverev defeated Ivan Dodig, Grigor Dimitrov, and Gilles Simon, before losing to Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, despite having a match point on his serve in the final set. At the Miami Open Zverev beat wild card Michael Mmoh in the first round, and then lost to Steve Johnson.

Zverev next competed at the Monte-Carlo Masters. In his first match, he easily defeated Andrei Rublev. He then played lucky loser Marcel Granollers after David Ferrer withdrew. He lost in three sets. He then competed in the Barcelona Open. He defeated Jan-Lennard Struff and Thomaz Bellucci, but lost to Malek Jaziri in straight sets. After Barcelona, Zverev entered the Bavarian Tennis Championships in Munich. He defeated Víctor Estrella Burgos and Lukáš Rosol (ending a three-match losing streak) en route to the quarterfinals. There, he defeated David Goffin in three sets, but lost in the semifinals to Dominic Thiem.

At the Italian Open, Zverev defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the first round, before losing to Roger Federer in the second. Zverev then competed in the 2016 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur as the eighth seed. He won his first match after Kyle Edmund had to retire after the second set. In the second round, he beat Marcel Granollers, who had defeated him earlier in April. In the quarterfinals, Zverev defeated second seed Gilles Simon in a third-set tiebreaker after saving two match points to improve his record against him to 3–0. In the semifinals, he beat fifth seed João Sousa to make his first ATP final. There, he lost to top seed and defending champion Dominic Thiem.

At the French Open, Zverev defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Stéphane Robert in the first two rounds in four sets and played 13th seed Dominic Thiem for a fourth round spot, to whom he lost in four sets. Zverev then opened his grass season in his home country at the Halle Open. In the first round, he upset seventh seed Viktor Troicki in straight sets. He then defeated Benjamin Becker, when his opponent retired. He then defeated Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets after saving multiple set points in the first set. In the semifinal, he upset top seed, three-time defending champion, and then 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in three sets to advance to his first 500 final and second final overall. In the final, he lost to resurgent countryman Florian Mayer in three sets. His next tournament was the third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon. He defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets, before defeating Mikhail Youzhny in five sets. He then lost in the third round to Tomáš Berdych in four sets.

He then competed at the German Open as the fourth seed. He lost in the first round to Íñigo Cervantes in straight sets. He then arrived at the Washington Open as the seventh seed. He defeated Taylor Fritz in straight sets, before defeating Malek Jaziri in four sets. He then defeated fourth seed Benoît Paire in straight sets to advance to the semifinals, where he lost to second seed and eventual champion Gaël Monfils. Zverev then played at the Canadian Open. He suffered another first-round loss to Yen-hsun Lu in straight sets. He withdrew from the Rio Olympics. Zverev then had another first-round loss at the Cincinnati Masters to Yūichi Sugita in three sets. Afterwards, Zverev competed at the final Grand Slam of the year at the US Open as the 27th seed. He defeated Daniel Brands in four sets, before losing to Dan Evans in four sets.

Zverev's next tournament was the St. Petersburg Open, where he was the fifth seed. Zverev defeated Karen Khachanov, Daniil Medvedev and Mikhail Youzhny, all in straight sets, to advance to the semifinal, where he defeated third seed Tomáš Berdych, also in straight sets, to advance to his third final. In the final, he defeated top seed and US Open champion Stan Wawrinka in three sets, coming back from 0–3 down in the third set to win his first ATP title. Zverev then withdrew from the Shenzhen Open. Zverev played the China Open, where he came from a set down to defeat fourth seed Dominic Thiem. He then defeated Jack Sock in straight sets, before losing to fifth seed David Ferrer, despite winning the first set and being up a break in the third set. Zverev then played at the Shanghai Masters. He defeated John Isner in straight sets, before coming from a set down to defeat eighth seed Marin Čilić. Zverev then lost to ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, despite winning the first set and being up a break in the third set.

In October 2016 he became the youngest player to enter the ATP top 20 since Novak Djokovic in 2006.

2017: Top-5 ranking and first 2 Masters titles

Zverev began the year by tying his best result at a Grand Slam at the time, falling in the 3rd round of the Australian Open to eventual runner-up Rafael Nadal in a 5-set match. Zverev had beaten Robin Haase and Frances Tiafoe, in the first and second rounds respectively to reach the Spaniard. Zverev represented Germany in the first round of the Davis Cup, losing to Steve Darcis after a straight sets victory over Arthur De Greef, his first win at the Davis Cup. In his second appearance at the Open Sud de France, Zverev won his first title of the year beating Richard Gasquet in straight sets. Zverev and his brother also won the doubles title at Montpellier, beating Fabrice Martin and Daniel Nestor.

After two successive first round losses at the Rotterdam Open and Open 13 – to Dominic Thiem and Nicolas Mahut respectively – Zverev played in Indian Wells, where he lost to Nick Kyrgios in the third round. From Indian Wells, Zverev made it to his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal at the Miami Open. After beating World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, Zverev again lost to Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals.

Zverev began the clay-court season at Monte Carlo, where he beat Andreas Seppi and Feliciano Lopez to reach nine-time champion Nadal in the third round. Zverev lost to Nadal in straight sets, before heading to the Barcelona Open. He made it to the third round at Barcelona, where he lost to qualifier Chung Hyeon in straight sets. Zverev won his second title of the year, and first title on home soil at the BMW Open. He beat Jeremy Chardy, fellow countryman Jan-Lennard Struff, World No. 18 Roberto Bautista Agut and then finally Guido Pella to win the title. Zverev then competed unseeded at the Madrid Open. In the first round he beat Fernando Verdasco in straight sets, setting up a second round match over Marin Cilic. After beating Cilic in three close sets, and then prevailing over Tomas Berdych, Zverev lost in the quarterfinals to Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas.

At the Italian Open, Zverev continued his excellent form in beating 5th seed Milos Raonic in the quarterfinal, setting up his first Masters 1000 semifinal with John Isner. He then beat Isner in three sets to move into his first Masters final against Novak Djokovic. In the final, Zverev defeated Djokovic in straight sets to win his first Masters title. With this win, he became the youngest player since Djokovic in 2007 to win a Masters 1000 title, and the first player born in the 1990s to do so. Despite his triumph in Rome, he went on to lose in the first round of the French Open to Fernando Verdasco in four sets.

Zverev began his grass-court season at the Ricoh Open as second seed. He defeated two Frenchmen, Adrian Mannarino and Julien Benneteau, to reach the semi-finals, where he lost to eventual champion and fourth seed Gilles Müller. In his next tournament, Zverev again reached the final of the Halle Open for his second consecutive year, defeating Roberto Bautista Agut and former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet on his path. Despite beating him in the semi-finals of the previous year's tournament, Zverev lost to Roger Federer in only 53 minutes. Zverev and his brother also reached the Halle Open doubles final but lost to Łukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. At Wimbledon he achieved his best result at a Grand Slam event to date, falling in the 4th round to the previous years' runner up and 6th seed Milos Raonic in a 5-set match. He defeated Evgeny Donskoy, Frances Tiafoe and qualifier Sebastian Ofner in straight sets, to reach Raonic.

Zverev returned to hard-court at the Washington Open where he claimed his 5th ATP title. He defeated Jordan Thompson, Tennys Sandgren, Daniil Medvedev and Kei Nishikori – thereby losing only one set all week in the U.S. capital, before beating South African Kevin Anderson in straight sets to win his first ATP World Tour 500 title. He next played the Canadian Open, defeating an injured second seed Roger Federer in the final, clinching his second career Masters title. On the way to the final, Zverev saved three match points – including one 49-shot rally – to hold off Richard Gasquet in the second round. Zverev shot up to World No. 7 as a result of his success in Montreal, becoming the highest ranked German male since Rainer Schüttler in April 2004. Despite his previous week's success, a fatigued Zverev lost in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters to Frances Tiafoe in three sets. Zverev returned to the US Open for his fourth time, this time as a favourite and as fourth seed. He defeated Barbadian qualifier Darian King in straight sets before losing to fellow Next Generation player Borna Ćorić in four sets, in the second round. Despite this, following the tournament's conclusion Zverev rose to World No.4, breaking into the top five for the first time in his career.

Playing style

Zverev is an aggressive baseliner, with a strong serve and an excellent two-handed backhand. His second serve is particularly notable, and can be clocked at over 130mph. He is precise at the net, and is known for his persistence and work-ethic.

Personal life

Zverev's primary residence is Monte Carlo. He lives part-time in Hamburg and in Florida. His hobbies include playing golf and basketball. He has described himself as an avid fan of basketball, supporting the Miami Heat. When he was growing up, Roger Federer was his role model.

Zverev speaks German, Russian and English.

Singles

Current through the 2017 US Open.

Awards