In Tennis, Alexander Zverev’s Many Trials

Mischa Zverev meets his little brother better than anyone.

A decade older than Alexander, also known as Sascha, Mischa has served as a single, partial through Alexander’s life and the tennis career.

When Sascha was 6 years old, Mischa did it while playing satellite tournaments in Australia, he hit him after his games and let him ride on his shoulders on the way home from the beach. Now the little brother occupies the number 2 in the world, reached the French and American open finals, an Olympic gold medal and is about to play in its seventh final ATP. He also won his seventh ATP Masters 1000 event last week at the Rolex Paris Masters.

He has had his tributes out of the court in recent years, including the charges of domestic abuse now on probation and a duration on the court, a loss in 2022, so the ATP could on probation and probation.

“I know what I did, I know what I did,” said this spring before the charges were resolved. “That is, at the end of the day, what will come out, and I have to trust that.”

Zverev, 27, won the ATP finals in 2018 with consecutive victories about Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and then again in 2021 when he beat Daniil Medvedev in the final. The interior tournament, which begins on Sunday in Turin, Italy, adapts to its style.

“There is no wind, no sun, nothing that distracts me too much,” Zverev said in September. “I like having to play 100 percent from the first game. And it is useful to have success in a tournament. That is something you can keep at the bottom of your mind.”

Grigor Dimitrov has lost to Zverev in seven of his nine meetings, but won at Miami Open in March.

“Sascha is a super complete player,” said Dimitrov. “I don’t think there are too many people who can hang out with him on the reverse cross. He is also one of the most patient players, and you know that he will never give up.”

This season has bone up and down for Zverev, especially in the biggest. He altered Carlos Alcaraz to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open, but lost to Medvedev after climbing two sets to love. He hit Rafael Nadal from his last Open in France and reached the final, where he lost to Alcaraz after leading two sets to one.

In Wimbledon, Zverev fractured his lukewarm where he meets his knee, but still took Taylor Fritz by two sets to love in the 16 round before losing. Before the United States Open, where he lost to Fritz in the quarterfinals, Zverev was diagnosed with pneumonia. He said he felt exhausted per week later.

Zverev is very aware of his lack of a Grand Slam title. Shortly after winning his Olympic gold in 2021, he lost to Dominic Thiem in the US Open final, again after having an advantage of two sets to love. His brother acknowledged that his struggles were more mental than physical.

“It is not his game, his dumps, his right or setback,” said Mischa. “The result is decided in his head. I don’t want to call him a mental problem or weakness. But the solution is there. There is no secret. He has all the information. He just needs to take what Hey to take.”

Zverev said he believed that time was on his side and that he must remain optimistic.

“I learned to enjoy the tennis game, the defeats, the victories obviously,” he said. “When I was younger, I was very anxious. I thought:” When will this happen, when I’m going to win that? “Now I just enjoy being here.”

When Zverev was 3 years old and began playing tennis, he said that the family learned that he had type 1 diabetes. His mother, Irina, was worried about his son’s ability to lead an athletic life. It was Mischa who relieved his fears.

“I said:” Don’t worry, he will be the world. 1, he will be a Grand Slam champion, “Micha recalled told his mother. And how did the older brother knew?

“Because special people have special tasks in life,” said Mischa. “And his task is to achieve all that and show everyone that it is possible.”