Little known facts about Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zev born April 20th 1997 is a German professional tennis player and the current world number four he has been ranked by the ADP as high as world number two Z of singles career highlights include a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and titles at the 2018 and the 2021 ADP finals he has won 22 ADP tour titles in singles and two in doubles and has been runner up at two majors the 202 US Open and 2024 French Open Zev is a former Junior world number one and won a junior major singles title at the 2014 Australian Open he had an early breakthrough on the professional tour as well becoming one of the youngest Challenger tour title winners in history at the age of 17 as a teenager Z of won two ADP titles and upset then world number three Roger Federer on grass at 20 years old he became the Young player to debut in the top 20 since Novak jokovic at the Laver cup Zev has played an instrumental role in team Europe's early success in the competition winning the clenching matches in 2018 and 2019 after reaching his career best results in 2021 and 2022 he suffered an ankle injury at the French Open from which he recovered to re-enter the top 10 the following year early life and background Alexander verev was was born on April 20th 1997 in Hamburg Germany to Russian parents ireena viiva and Alexander movich spev his older brother Misha born nearly a decade earlier was also a professional tennis player both of his parents were professional tennis players for the Soviet Union his father ranked as high as number 175 in the world became the top ranked men's player nationally while his mother was the fourth highest ranked women's player in the Soviet Union they both moved from Sochi to the capital to train at the cska Moscow military ran Tennis Club the Soviet government often restricted their players from competing outside the country an impediment that limited how high either of Alexander's parents could rise in the world rankings with the collapse of the Soviet Union imminent Arena went to Germany to compete at a tournament in 1990 with her husband accompanying as her coach while in Germany they were offered jobs as tennis instructors after initially declining they accepted an offer to work at the Ellen hster Hockey Club in Hamburg the following year and ended up settling in the country Zev nicknamed Sasha the Russian language nickname for Alexander started playing tennis at the age of three since he began playing tennis at a very young age he has said one day when I was I think 1 year and 5 months old I just picked up a little Racket and I was starting to push the ball all over our apartment and since then they took me out on the court I enjoy it still I enjoyed it back then when he was 5 years old he started to play tennis at least half an hour each day dot he was extremely competitive as a child his brother Misha said he would not understand or accept that he was losing when the two would play against each other he would never want to leave the court unless he won the match he also played hockey and football as a child but decided to focus only on tennis around the age of 12 after an early round loss at a highlevel International Junior tournament in Florida when Alexander was young his mother was his primary coach while his father was focused on coaching his brother he has said I think I have pretty good technique which my mom did at a young age so credit to her for that my backhand in particular is 100% down to my mom while his mother had a more relaxed teaching style his father had a very Soviet way of doing physical training sessions that involved doing time drills for fixed numbers of repetitions Alexander's coaches aimed for him to have a riskier aggressive playing style built around hitting the ball with pace and finishing points quickly this was a big contrast from how he played around age 12 when his style focused on being an unbelievable fighter from the Baseline in part because he was too slow to go to the net initially Alexander struggled to change his playing style he made a lot of errors and lost to opponents who excelled at keeping points alive however his father stuck with this strategy saying we must practice fast tennis aggressive tennis if you lose today it's no big deal you must think about the future Junior career Zab played his first Junior match in January 2011 at the age of 13 at a grade four tournament in Poland he is a former world number one junior he entered his first event on the international tennis Federation ITF junior circuit in early 2011 when he was 13 near the beginning of 2012 Zab won his first ITF title at the fuara junior championships a low-level grade four tournament in the United Arab Emirates he would pick up a lower level grade five title at the Oman International Junior 2 a few weeks later which led him to begin competing in higher level events shortly before his 15th birthday he did not have much success at tournaments that were grade two and above until the following year when he reached back-to-back doubles finals with Spencer Papa at the grade eopa gerow and the grade one USA international spring championships zov's early season success in doubles proved to be the precursor of a major Improvement in singles as well during the European clay Court Season he won his first grade one title over Andre rubloff at the open International Junior deu sured he followed up that performance with his first grade A title at the trophy o Bon figlio a month later becoming the youngest boys singles champion in the tournament's history he also finished runner up at the 2013 French Open to Christian Garen Zev had some grasscourt success as well finishing runner up to Nick cuos at the junior International rampton however he needed to retire at Wimbledon due to a shoulder injuries verev came close to reaching another major boys singles final at the 2013 Junior US Open but was defeated by the eventual Champion Bor a chorich in the semi-finals this success was enough for him to take over the number one ranking in late October before the end of the season Zev also represented Germany in the junior Fed Cup leading them to a fourth place finish his last tournament of the year was the grade A Orange Bowl where he was defeated by Stephan klov in the semi-finals do the top ranked Junior at the end of the season he was named the ITF junior world champion becoming the youngest boys Champion since Donald Young in 2005 Five zov played just two tournaments in 2014 both in Australia in January he won the singles events of both tournaments the first of which came against Australian Omar jasica at the Talan Jr International at the Australian Open he was able to defeat klov who was seated second to finish his Junior career with a first major title Junior Grand Slam results singles Australian Open W 2014 French Open F 2013 Wimbledon 3r 2013 usop SF 2013 professional career 2011 to4 Challenger title and ADP semi-final at 17 Zev at the 2014 Bavarian International tennis championships as the age of 14 zov entered qualifying at three different tournaments including the 2011 Moselle open on the ADP tour but lost all of his matches he won his professional main draw debut against compatriot Christian leeger at a Futures event in Germany in August 2012 at the end of the year he made his first professional final finishing runnerup to Florian ret at an ITF $10,000 event in Florida as verev continued to focus on the juniors in 2013 and did not reach another Pro level final that year but he did make his main draw debut on the ADP tour in July losing to Roberto Bautista gut at his hometown tournament the international German open he also made his ADP Challenger tour debut losing to Maximo Gonzalez at the mebsh Challenger in August after winning the boy singles title at the 2014 Australian Open Zev shifted his Focus to his professional career only playing in pro events the rest of the year initially he struggled on the pro tour failing to qualify for the main draw at his first five events of the Season he did not win a main draw match until he recorded a single victory at the H Bron Neer cup Challenger his 10th event of the year one of his losses was a retirement against his brother Misha verev made his first professional breakthrough in July when he won the brown schwag Challenger for his first professional title despite entering the tournament with just one career Challenger level match win and no top 100 Victories three of the players he defeated were in the top 100 including his first round opponent number 87 Tobias Camp his semi-final opponent number 56 Andre gev and his final opponent number 89 Paul hry Matthew at the age of 17 years and two months he became the youngest player to win a Challenger title since Bernard Tomic in 2009 and the 12th youngest in history Vera followed up this title with a breakthrough at the ADP tour level he entered the international German open having never won an ADP match but managed to reach the semi-finals he recorded four match wins at the event including his first career Victory against Robin hassa and his first top 20 victory over number 16 miky Yugi before losing to number seven David Farah he became the first 17-year-old to defeat a top 20 opponent since Rashard gase in 2004 and the first to make a semi-final since Marin chillage in 2006 dot verev had risen from number 665 to number 285 after his ch Challenger title and his ADP 500 series semi-final appearance took him to number 161 in the world he finished the season ranked number 136 2015 ADP doubles final top 100 Zev at the 2015 US Open at the beginning of the Season Zab was still ranked too low to receive direct entry into the main draws of ADP tour events which forced him to continue playing Challenger events through July he also needed to enter qualifying for ADP events throughout the year Zev did not qualify for either of the first two major singles events of the Season he was able to qualify for his first Master's event at the Miami open and reached the second round during the clay Court Season Zev partnered with his brother Misha to reach his first career ADP Final in doubles at the Bavarian International tennis championships the verab brothers finished runnerup to top- seated Alexander pea and Brunos sours later that month he won his second career Challenger title at the hbr Necker cup to crack the top 100 of the ADP rankings with a higher ranking Zev was directly accepted into Wimbledon a week before the tournament he took part in the bules challenge exhibition and surprisingly upset world number one Novak jokovic in straight sets Zev backed up this performance in his Grand Slam Tournament main draw debut defeating teamz gabashvili in a tight match that lasted until 9 to7 in the fifth and final set he lost in the next round to Dennis kudla zov opted to play on Clay after Wimbledon and reached another 80P semi-final at the Swedish open to put him back in the top 100 after one week out I in August Z returned to the United States and competed in two US Open series events he notably upset number 14 Kevin Anderson at the City open on route to the quarterfinals dot zev's brief rankings drop in July meant that he needed to qualify for the US Open he succeeded but lost his opening round match to compatriot Philip kreber in five sets Z have won just one more main draw match the rest of the season and ended the year ranked number 83 in the world as the youngest player in the top 100 he was named the 80P newcomer of the year 2016 first ADP title Federer upset top 20 Zev at the 2016 US Open zev's first ADP event of the year was the 201 16 Australian Open where he had a difficult draw against world number two Andy Murray and was only able to win six games in his opening matched he bounced back at the open said to France reaching the semi-finals in the singles event and his second career final with his brother in The Doubles event during the singles event he upset number 13 Marin chelich the highest ranked player he had defeated in an official match at the time ver then produced a strong result at the Indian Wells Masters where he defeated two top 30 players ERS in the fourth round he nearly upset number five rafhael madal Zev had a match point while he was serving for the final set but missed a routine forehand volley and then proceeded to lose 14 of the remaining 15 points in the match he commented on the match point that I missed probably the easiest shot I had the whole match back in Europe zov was able to recover as he reached his first 80P singles final at the open to nice coat dour finishing runner up to number 15 Dominic tame the top seed and defending Champion tame also defeated him in the third round of the French Open I haven't really grasped it yet that I would be standing here as a winner I couldn't have imagined it yesterday it's unbelievable to get a win against Roger especially on grass zov on his victory against Federer at the hle open zov's next breakthrough came during the grasscourt season at the hle open where he upset world number three Roger Federer in the semi-finals ending feder streak of 10 consecutive appearances in the final while competing at the tournament he was also the first teenager to defeat Federer since Murray nearly a decade earlier nonetheless he finished runner up at the event to veteran compatriot Florian mayor after this final he entered the top 30 for the first time and stayed ranked in the 20s for the rest of the season despite being seated at a major tournament for the first time Zev could then only match his best major singles result at Wimbledon again falling to berdick during the US Open series he reached the semi-finals of the Washington open but lost his opening round matches at both Masters events he was then upset in the second round of the US Open by Dan Evans after the US Open Z returned to Europe and won his first career ADP title at the St Petersburg open he recorded his first win over number n berdick in the semi-finals and number three Stan warena in the final coming back from 0 to 3 down in the third set.at his next event he then defeated number 10 tame in the first round of the 2016 China open for the first time in four tries this year in doing so Zev became the first teenager to record three consecutive victories against top 10 opponents since Boris Becker in 1986 do zev's third round appearance at the Shanghai Masters then helped him rise to number 20 in the ADP rankings making him the youngest player to debut in the top 20 since Novak jokovic in 2006 2017 two Master's titles world number three during the 2017 season Zev greatly improved his results at the higher level tournaments on the ADP tour except for the four major events it was at this time spev who had been using his nickname Sasha stated in a postmatch interview with Pam Shriver that he would no longer be referred to as Sasha Zev stated that only his close family can refer to him as Sasha as he was born in Germany and identifies as a German and does not want a Russian nickname to be used for his professional career at the Australian Open zov again pushed Rafael madal to the brink But ultimately lost in five sets his next ADP tournament was the open said to France where he won both the singles and doubles events he and his brother defeated fabr Martin and Daniel Nester for Alexander's first doubles title the following month he made his first Master's quarterfinal at the Miami open upsetting number three Stan warena along the way Nick kios defeated him at both Masters events that month after a slow start to the clay Court Season Z of won two more titles in May the first of which came at home in Germany at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships he Then followed up a second Master's quarterfinal at the Madrid Open with his first Master's title at the Rome Masters he defeated Novak jokovic in the final to become the youngest Masters champion since jokovic in 2007 and the first such Champion born in the 1990s with the title he also entered the top 10 for the first time despite his Triumph in Rome he lost his opening round match at the french open during the grasscourt season zov made another singles final and again faced Federer at the hle open but could not defeat him this time 66 he and his brother also finished runner up in the doubles event to lukash kubot and Marcelo Melo Wimbledon he achieved his best best result at a major event to date ultimately losing in the fourth round to the previous year's runner-up Milo's ronic in a tight fet match back on hardcourts zov won his last two titles of the season in August he won the Washington open as well as a second consecutive Masters title at the Canadian open only dropping a single set at each tournament in each of his opening matches notably he needed to save three match points in his first match in Canada against Rashard gas including a 49 shot rally dot he then defeated Roger Federer in the final to become the first player outside of the big four to win multiple Masters titles in the same season since David nalbandian in 2007 dot despite this success he was upset in the second round of the US Open by fellow next gen player borach chorich do at the end of the season zov qualified for both the inaugural Next Generation finals as one of the top 721 and under players and the ADP finals as one of the top eight players in the world he opted to skip the former event to focus on the latter at the ADP finals zv was grouped with Roger Federer Maron chich and Jack sock he defeated chich in his first match but lost his final two matches and did not Advance out of his round robin group Vera finished the year ranked number four peing at number three right before the ADP finals and accumulated 580p titles from just six Finals 2008 18 tour finals Champion first major quarterfinal Zab with the Champions Trophy at the 2018 Washington open zov maintained his top five ranking throughout the year however he still did not deliver any High Caliber results at the major tournaments he was upset at the Australian Open by reigning next gen finals champion and number 59 Chung hayen in five sets in the third round Zev stated that issues at Majors were definitely not physical when asked if his problems were physical or mental and also attribute this lack of success to the extra pressure he was putting on himself at these events Zev did not reach his first final of the year until early April at the Miami Masters despite taking the first set of the final he finished runner-up to American John esner who had never previously won a master's title Zev continued his master success into the clay Court Season reaching the semi-finals at the Monte Carlo masters winning his third career Masters title at the Madrid Open and making the final at the Rome Masters in Madrid he defeated Dominic tamame in the final to become the only active player outside of the big four to have won three Masters titles he came close to winning back-to-back Masters events going up a break in the third set against Nadal at the Italian Open however Nadal was able to recover and win the final five games of the match after a rain delay Zev had also defended his title at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships and his only other French Open tuneup to help build up a 13 match win streak that lasted until the Italian Open final he capped off his excellent clay Court Season by reaching his first major quarterfinal at the French Open he needed to win three five set matches to get that far before tame ended his run while he was faced with a hamstring injury Up Until the year- End championships zov struggled to build on his early season success he lost in the third round of both Wimbledon and the US Open and his best result at the four remaining Masters events was a semi-final at the Shanghai Masters he was able to defend his title at the Washington open his only title during this period Z of also reached two more doubles finals with his brother but did not win either of them at the end of the season zov qualified for both the Next Generation finals and the ADP finals for the second consecutive year again choosing to only compete at the latter event he was placed in a group with Novak jokovic Marin chich and John Isner this year Zev was able to advance out of the group only losing to number one jokovic in the round robin he faced Federer in the semi-finals and defeated him in straight sets to set up a rematch with jokovic despite being a heavy Underdog and having just lost to jokovic earlier in the week Zab won the final in straight sets for the 10th and biggest title of his career he became the youngest tour Champion since jokovic a decade earlier and and the first German to win the season ending Championship since Boris Becker in 1995 this was also zev's first victory over a current world number one player 2019 early season struggles Masters runner up ADP final semi-final Zev at the 2019 French Open Zev opened his 2019 season with a fourth round appearance at the 2019 Australian Open defeating Jeremy chi in five sets in the second round before losing to Milos Rik in straight sets Z of next played at the Mexican open and finished runner up to Nick cuos following this tournament he did not win more than one match at any of his next six events a streak that ended with two match wins at the Madrid Open nonetheless Z finished the clay Court Season strong the week before the French Open he won his only title of the year at the Geneva open defeating Nicholas Jerry in the final after saving two match points in the third set tie break doc he then went on to defeat number 12 Fabio fagnini and reach his second consecutive quarterfinal at the French Open where he lost to Novak jokovic ver did not follow through on that success into the grasscourt season where his best result was a quarterfinal at the hle open dock he was upset in the first round of both the sto guard open and Wimbledon the latter of which to qualifier Yuri besses ver of attributed his early season struggles to being distracted by a legal dispute with his former agent Patricio AP with whom he had split from in the off season Zev began to turn his season around following Wimbledon he reached the semi-finals of the German open and the quarterfinals at the Canadian open he then reached the last 16 at the US Open for the first time where he lost to seeed number 20 Diego schwarzman to continue his lack of success at the major tournaments he had also fallen out of the top five in early August for the first time in nearly two years dot V's best result of the Season came at the Shanghai Masters he upset number three Roger Federer in the quarterfinals before finishing runnerup to number four denal meddev who was playing in his sixth consecutive final this performance helped him qualify for the ADP finals at the end of the year at the event Zev was drawn into a round robin group with Rafael Nadal Stefanos cspz and denil Medvedev he defeated Nadal for the first time in his Opening match before losing to tsipas he then won his match against meddev which he needed to win to advance via the tiebreak criteria nonetheless he could not defend his title losing to Dominic tame in the seminal Sev finished the season at number seven in the world 2020 US Open final Australian Open semi-finals ZB practicing at the 2020 Australian Open ZB began his 2020 season at the inaugural ADP cup Germany was in group F alongside Australia Greece and Canada against Australia he lost to Alex De Manor in three sets Australia won the tie over Germany 30-0 dot against Greece he was defeated by Stefanos cipus Germany won the tie over Greece 2 one dot against Canada he was beaten by Dennis shapovalov Canada won the tie over Germany 21. Germany ended third in group F seated seventh at the Australian Open he first defeated Marco chinato in the first round in straight sets after the match he pledged to donate all his prize money for the tournament too relief efforts for the ongoing bushfires if he won the title a total of four Australian 12 million he then defeated eigor gerasimov Fernando verdasco and 17th seed Andre rubloff to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set he defeated 15th seed and 2014 Champion Stan Linka in the quarterfinals in four sets to reach his first major single semi-final but he fell in his semi-final match to fifth seed Dominic tamame in four sets during the week of February 24th Zev played at the Mexican open seated second he was upset in his second round match by qualifier Tommy Paul starting from March 12th through early August the ADP suspended tournament played due to the covid-19 pandemic at the US Open Zab was seated fifth he defeated Kevin Anderson in four sets then beat 19-year-old Brandon Nakashima in four sets in the third round round he beat Adrien manarino in four sets before beating Alejandro devoi fak in straight sets in the quarterfinals he beat borach chorich in four sets to reach his second major semi-final there he lost the first two sets to Pablo coreno Busta but came back to win the match in five this was his first ever match win from two sets down he thus Advanced to his first major final where he faced Dominic tame he became the runner up losing the final in a final set tiebreaker despite leading by two sets and twice coming within two points of the title in the final set Zev was seated sixth at the French Open he beat Dennis Novak Pierre Hues Herbert and Marco chinato before losing in four sets to Jan nicker in October he won two consecutive ADP 250 events in Cologne which took place in the 2020 ADP tour because of the cancellation of several tournaments due to the covid-19 team pandemic in the finals he defeated Felix Aurelia and Diego schwarzman both in straight sets Zev then reached the final of the Paris Masters beating nidal in straight sets in the semi-finals where he lost to denil Medvedev in three sets in the ADP finals Zev was eliminated in the group stage after a three set win over Diego schwarzman and straight set losses to jokovic and the eventual Champion meddev 2021 six ADP titles including Olympic gold and ADP finals 300th career win Z began his season in February with the ADP cup where he represented Germany with Jan Leonard stuff Kevin citz and Andreas mice to reach the semifinals in his first Grand Slam Tournament appearance at the 2021 Australian Open he defeated Marcos Jon Maxim cresy Adrien manarino and Duan lovic his run ended in the quarterfinals where he lost to the eventual Champion and World number one Novak jokovic in March his first tournament was in reram where he lost in the first round to kazak Alexander bubl do he continued his performances in aapco where he won his 14th ADP Title by defeating Stefanos cipus in the final do the tournament in Miami he lost in the second round to finland's Emil revuri at his first tournament in 2021 on clay and Monte Carlo Zev finished in the third round losing to David goffen Munich he reached the quarterfinals losing to the 107th ranked tennis player in the world Ilia of ashka Zev at the 2021 French Open at the Madrid Open Zev defeated Rafael madal Dominic tame and Matteo bartini on route to his fourth Master's 1,000 title and 15th career title at the same tournament he also reached his first semi-final in doubles at a Masters 1000 partnering with compatriot Tim p but withdrew from the match he reached the quarterfinals of the Masters 1,000 in Rome losing to eventual tournament winner Rafael madal in his second Grand Slam Tournament of the year in Paris where he was seated number six he won against Oscar a Roman safin llo deer Kana shakori and Alejandro deoi fak in the semi-final he played Stefanos cipus to whom he lost after a five- set battle zov's first appearance on grass started with a tournament at home in Halley he lost in the second round to the eventual tournament winner Yugo hbert at Wimbledon seated number four he equaled his best achievement at the tournament to date reaching the fourth round for a second time along the way he defeated Talon gsbor Tenny sandrin and Taylor Fritz he was defeated in the fourth round by Felix Aurelia in five sets following this run he returned to the top five after two years on July 12th 2021 at the Olympics Z beat yansen L Daniel elahi Galan Nicholas bassil asala and Jeremy Chi to reach the semi-finals in the semi-finals despite being a set and a breakdown against world number one Novak jokovic Zev rallied to break back and won eight games in a row on his way to win in three sets he defeated Karen kachanov in straight sets in the final to claim the Olympic gold medal Zev became the first German man to win a gold medal in singles and the first to win a medal since Tommy hos won his silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics following the Olympics zarev reached his second Masters 1,000 final of the year at the 2021 western and southern open after defeating Lloyd Harris Guido Pella Casper Roode and Stefanos cspz after a close three set battle in the semi-final Zev had not won a match at the tournament in six prior appearances he beat Andre rubloff for the 17th title of his career and the fourth of the season in 59 minutes the shortest match in the tournament history at the US Open zov sought to claim his first major title following his run to the final the previous year he reached the semi-finals following wins over Jack sock and Lloyd Harris there he lost to Novak jokovic in five sets despite taking the first set ending his career high 16 match when streak stretching back to the Olympics Zev was seated third at the 2021 BMP parba open where he reached the quarterfinals on the way he defeated Jensen Brooksby Andy Murray and Gail mon F he lost to Taylor Fritz despite having two match points at the AA Bank open in Vienna seated second he defeated Philip karanovic and Alex De Manor to reach the quarterfinals the victory over deor gave ver of his 380p tour match win he then then beat Felix Aurelia Simon Carlos alcaras to reach the final where he won his fifth title of the year and 18th overall defeating Francis tifo in straight sets Zev was the fourth seed at the 2021 Rolex Paris Masters he receiv received to buy into the second round where he defeated Ducan Lovich he defeated next 16th seed Gregor dimitrov in the third round and sixth seed Casper Roode in the quarterfinals he lost in the semi-finals to Second seed denil Medvedev in straight sets as a result of this run he equaled his singles career-high ranking of world number three on November 8th 2021 for a fifth successive season zov qualified for the 2021 ADP finals in Torin as the third seed he began his campaign by defeating home favorite Matteo bartini who retired with an injury dot on his way to the title he defeated the top two seeds jokovic and medev in the semi-finals and Final respectively due to this win he became the only player active to have won multiple ADP Finals titles two other than jokovic and Roger Federer with seven and six respectively 2022 first top 10 win at a major world number 2 ankle injury Zev at the 2022 Monte Carlo masters Zev started his 2022 season by representing Germany at the ADP cup Germany was in group C alongside Great Britain the US and Canada against Great Britain he beat Cameron Nory Great Britain ended up winning the tie over Germany 2 one dot against the US he defeated Taylor Fritz Germany won the tie 2 to1 over the USA against Canada he lost to Felix aurel Asim in three sets Canada won the tie over Germany to one do Germany not only failed to qualify for the semi-finals but they also ended third in group C seated third at the Australian Open he reached the fourth round where he was defeated by 14th seed Dennis shapovalov in straight sets after the Australian Open Z played at the open said to France as the top seed he made it to the final where he lost to sixth seed Alexander bubbl seated second at the Mexican open Z played in what was the record latest match ever played defeating Jensen Brooksby at for col 55 a.m. he was then defaulted from the tournament ahead of his following match against compatriot Peter gojic for violently and repeatedly hitting the umpire's chair with his racket after his loss and doubles representing Germany in the Davis Cup tie against Brazil he won both of his matches by beating Thiago Seth wild and Thiago Montero Germany ended up winning the tie over Brazil 3 to1 to qualify for the Davis Cup finals 164 seated third at the Indian Wells Masters he was stunned in his second round match by Tommy Paul however ever in doubles he and partner Andre gev reached the semi-finals where they lost to eventual Champions John nner and Jack sock seated second at the Miami open he reached the quarterfinals where he lost to sixth seed world number eight and eventual finalist Casper Roode in three sets Zev on the ndr talk show in 2022 Zev started his clay Court Season at the Monte Carlo masters seated second he reached the semi-finals after leading ninth seed in world number 12 jancker in the quarterfinals and a three set Thriller he lost in the semi-finals to third seed world number five defending champion and eventual Champion Stefanos cipus in straight sets do s the top seed at the BMW open in Munich he was upset in the second round by world number 70 and eventual Champion hogar run seated second at the Madrid Open he returned to defend his title he reached the semi-finals with a straight set win over eighth seed and world number 10 Felix aurel Asim in the quarterfinals after a tough three sets match win over Marin chillage in the second round and Lorenzo musetti's retirement in the third round due to a leg injury I in the semi-finals he took revenge on fourth seed world number five two-time Monte Carlo champion and 2019 finalist Stefanos csipos to reach his third final at this Master's 1000 event he improved his ADP head tohe head record record to 4 to7 against szipus earning his first clay Court win against him in the process I and the final he was defeated by seventh seed in world number nine Carlos alcarez seated second at the Italian Open he reached the semi-finals defeating Christian Garen in the quarterfinals by in the semi-finals he faced fourth seed Stefanos cspz again for the third consecutive time at this Master's level in the clay Court Season he lost his semi-final match to tsipas in three sets seated third at the French Open he matched his semi-final result from the previous year defeating sixth seed Carlos alcarez in the quarterfinals and what was his first top 10 victory at a major after 12 attempts I and his semi-final match against fifth seed former world number one and 13-time Roland G Champion rapael madal he retired 3 hours and 13 minutes into the match After Rolling his right ankle and tearing all three lateral ligaments he was rolled off the court in a wheelchair V of informed that the injury would cause him to miss the 2022 Wimbledon championships and on June 8th 2022 underwent surgery to repair the torn ligaments in his ankle despite his exit at Roland garos he reached a career-high ranking of world number two on June 13th 2022 in September he was due to return for the Davis Cup play but suffered a new injury a bone edema and withdrew from competition for the rest of the season Zev ended the year ranked 12 his lowest in 5 years when he debuted in the top 10 and remained a fixture there 2023 consecutive French Open semifinals 20th ADP title 350th win Z of signing autographs for fans at the 2023 muchu Madrid Open after the Australian Open zov represented Germany in the Davis Cup tie against Switzerland he won his first match over Stan warink he lost his second match to Mark Andrea h Switzerland ended up winning the tie over Germany 32 do seated eth at the Rotterdam open he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Dutch wildcard T and Greeks Spore in three sets seated fourth at the katar Exon Mobile open he fell in the second round to Wild Card former world number one two-time champion and eventual finalist Andy murrayan March he played at the Dubai championships seated seventh he reached the semi-finals where he lost to Second seed defend champion and eventual finalist Andre rubloff ver began his early us hardcourt campaign at the Indian Wells Masters seated 12th he reached the fourth round but lost to fifth seed world number six and eventual finalist denil Medvedev in three close sets seated 13th at the Miami open he was beaten in the second round by wildcard Taro Daniel Zab began his clay Court Season at the Monte Carlo masters seated 13th he earned his his first victory over Alexander bubbl by beating him in the first round in three sets I in the second round he defeated world number 29 Roberto Bautista gut in the second round I in the third round he lost to third seed denil meddev despite serving for the match twice and having two match points in the third set tie break this defeat was his seventh out of the last eight matches played with meddev seated third at the BMW open in Munich he was defeated in the second round by Christopher oconnell seated 13th at the Madrid Open he recorded his 350th career when by defeating Roberto carbel's bayet in the second round becoming the only player under 30 to reach this Milestone I in the third round he overpowered qualifier Hugo Grainer in 55 minutes to I in the fourth round he lost to top seed world number two defending champion and eventual Champion Carlos alcarez in a rematch of the 2022 final due to him not defending his finalist points from last year his ranking fell from 16 to 22 seated 19th at the Italian Open he made it to the fourth round where he lost to third seed and eventual Champion denil meddev having made the semi-finals last year his ranking again fell this time from 22 to 27 seated third at the Geneva open he reached the semi-final where he lost to Nicholas Jerry who would end up winning the tournament seated 22nd at the French open he defeated Lloyd Harris Alex Malin 12th seed Francis tifo and 28th seed Gregor demitro in his first four rounds I and the quarterfinals he faced thas Martin Cher he prevailed over Cher in four sets to reach his third consecutive semi-final at this tournament he fell in his semi-final match to world number four and last year finalist Casper Roode in straight sets Zev began his grass season by withdrawing from the Bost open in stutgart due to a thigh injury that he picked up during a semi-final match at Roland garos Zab then defeated Dominic tame Dennis shapovalov and Nicholas Jerry and hle to reach the semi-finals where he lost to eventual Champion Alexander bubl d t Wimbledon zov lost in third round to Matteo bartini in bastad zov Lost in the quarterfinals to Andre rubloff Zab won the Hamburg European open defeating llo jir in the final his Triumph marked 20th career ADP title during his 2023 US Open match against Jan nicker Z have halted play and complained to officials in response to a fan shouting the opening stanza to ditch lead a song which has served as the national anthem of Germany the use of the first and second stanza are presently commonly discouraged because of History Alexander Z of interpreted this as carrying Nazi sentiment and told officials that the fan had shouted the most famous Hitler phrase Z of Lost the quarterfinals match against Carlos alcarez after winning a 4-Hour 40 minutes 5-set match against jancker this match in combination with the Roland Go's 2023 semifinal cemented zev's return to top form his performance in the Asian swing was marked by his 21st title in chimu defeating Roman Sailin in three sets he followed this result with a semi-final showing in Beijing losing to Daniel Medvedev in their fifth meeting of the Year unable to maintain his for he lost in the second round of the Shanghai Masters against Roman Sailin where he was the defending finalist from 2019 and lost to Jordan Thompson in Tokyo during the European indoor hardcourt season Z of made the quarterfinals in Vienna before losing to Andre rubloff in three sets and reached the third round in Paris losing to Stefanos cspz despite this he qualified for the ADP finals for the first time since 2021 the event he was drawn in the red group and defeated Carlos alcarez in three sets and Andre rubloff in straight sets whilst losing to Medvedev he failed to qualify for the semi-finals after alcarez and meddev were more successful in terms of win loss percentage in sets ending his 2023 season 20124 French Open final sixth Masters title 400th career win seated sixth in Melbourne he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time since 2021 defeating Dominic kofer Lucas Klein for his 400th career win Alex mikkelson and Cameron Nory with two matches requiring deciding set tiebreakers he then achieved his first ever win against a top five player at a grand slam defeating Carlos alcaras in four sets in the quarterfinals to make his first Australian Open semi-final appearance since 2020 he subsequently lost to Danel medev despite being two sets to love up with the final score of 7 to5 6-3 6 7 4 67 5 3-6 his defeat marked only his second loss from being up two sets to love in a five- set match his first being against Dominic tame in the final of the 2020 US Open seated six that the BMP parba open Z have reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2021 defeating Christopher oconnell Talon Greeks Bor and Alex deor before losing to eventual Champion Carlos alcarez seated fourth at the Miami open Z have reached the semi-finals defeating Felix augur alas Christopher Eubanks Karen kachanov and Fabian maraton before losing to Gregor dimitrov this was his best result in Miami since reaching the final in 2018 Zev began his 2024 clay season seated fifth at the Monte Carlo masters receiving a buy into the second round and defeating Sebastian ofner before losing to eventual Champion Stefanos cspz in the third round as the top seed at the BMW Open Zev received a buy into the second round and beat jur dranov before being upset by world number 106 Christian Garen in the quarterfinals seated fourth in Madrid zov reached the fourth round beating borach chorich and Dennis shapovalov before being upset by 21st seed Francisco sandolo seated third in Rome Zab won his sixth Master's title defeating Alexander buek Nuno bores Taylor Fritz Alejandro Tabo and Nicholas Jerry in the final this was his best result in Rome since winning his first Master's 1,000 title at the 2017 Italian Open and his first Masters title since 2021 Zev reached his fourth consecutive French Open semi-final with wins over Rafael madal David goffen Talon grepor hogar Ron and Alex De manord he then defeated two-time finalist Casper Roode to reach his first major final since the 2020 US Open and his first on Clay I and the final set of the 2024 French Open alcaras hit a second serve which was called out by the line judges the chair umpire saw it different and overruled it electronic line calling revealed that the serve was out had it not been overturned Zev would have broken back alcaras while Hawkeye does have margin of error this remains an incredibly controversial overrall tennnis commentator Robbie kanig and former world number one Andy rodic disagreed with the overrules verev would go on to lose the fifth set giving up his two sets to one lead and is therefore still chasing his Maiden slam title at Wimbledon Zab beat Roberto carbel's Baya Marcos Jon and Cameron Nory before losing to Taylor Fritz in the fourth round his third set tie break with Nori was noted as one of the longest tie breaks of the tournament with ver of prevailing 17 to 15 after 26 minutes back on the clay Court Zev reached the final at the 2024 Hamburg open losing to Arthur s in three sets team competitions labor cup zov took part in the inaugural labor Cup in Prague in 2017 he accured Four Points by winning both of his singles matches for team Europe as they defeated team World 159 259 he played a more crucial role in 2018 and 2019 winning the clinching matches in both editions against Kevin Anderson and Milos ranck respectively I and the 21 Edition in Boston he defeated John Isner in three sets in his only match in team Europe's 14 to1 win Davis Cup Zev made his Davis Cup debut for Germany against the Czech Republic in 2016 he faced number seven Tomas berdick in his debut match and took a two sets to one lead before ultimately losing in five sets 264 after the Czech Republic won the doubles rubber while kle shriber won both singles matches z f faced Lucas Russell in a decisive fifth rubber Russell won the match easily to send the Czech Republic into the next round I and the 2017 against Belgium Z recorded his first career match wi in the competition against Arthur de grief but lost the doubles rubber with his brother as well as his second singles match to Steve Darcy Belgium won the ti four one do verb won his first Davis Cup tie in 2018 winning both of his singles matches against Alex De Manor and curios to lead Germany to a 3 to1 victory over Australia i in the quarterfinals Germany took a 2 to1 lead against Spain behind sp's win over David Farah and a victory in doubles however Spain ultimately won the tie on the final day after Zev was unable to defeat Nadal and Cole shriber lost a tight five-set match to Farah in 2019 the format of the Davis Cup was changed to have 18 countries competing in the finals over a single week in November all but six of which were cided through a qualifying round in February Germany was placed in the qualifying round and drawn against Hungary Zev participated and won both of his singles matches as Germany won the tie 5-0 dot he did not participate in the finals in November in which Germany lost in the quarterfinals Hopman cup Zev represented Germany at the Hopman cup for four consecutive years from 2016 through 2019 with three different partners in 2016 he competed with Sabine laiki the duo won their tie against the French team with SP of winning both his singles and mixed doubles matches however they were shut out against Great Britain and Australia green and did not advance to the final the following year he entered the competition with Andrea petkovic while the pair only won their tie against Great Britain Zev also defeated Federer in singles in his first tournament back from injury Zev had much more success UC in 2018 and 2019 when he paired up with Angelique Kerber in their first year together they were able to advance to the final primarily on the strength of the pair winning all three of their mixed doubles matches I in the final against Switzerland Z of lost his singles match to Federer although Kerber won her singles match against Belinda bensik they lost the decisive mixed doubles rubber they returned in 2019 and again reached the final to set up a rematch of the previous year's final with Federer and bensik in a round robin group with Australia France and Spain the two of them won all six of their singles matches but lost two of their three mixed doubles matches against Australia and France like the previous year the final was decided by the mixed doubles match after Federer defeated Zev and Kerber defeated bensik with a fast four format the match went to three sets in the third set tie break both teams had a match point at 4 to4 Switzerland won the point with feder serving to win the title ADP cup zov represented Germany at the ADP Cup in 2020 and 2021 at the debut of this tournament in 2020 he was on the team with Jan Leonard stuff Kevin citz and Andreas m in the group stage where Germany met Australia Canada and Greece Z have lost all three matches to Alex De Manor Dennis shapovalov and Stefanos cipus respective L Germany did not advance to the next phase of the tournament finishing third in the group in 2021 Germany played again with the same lineup as the previous year in the group they played against Canada and Serbia zov won his first match against Dennis shapovalov in their second meeting he lost in singles to Novak jokovic but still played against him and Nik a cassic in doubles while paired with Jan Leonard stuff Germany won that meeting which allowed them to advance from First Place in the group to the semi-finals there they ended up against Russia whereas verev lost his match to denil medv Germany eventually lost that game 2 to1 allowing Russia to advance to the final United cup Zev started his 2023 season by representing Germany at the first edition of the United cup Germany was in group C alongside the Czech Republic and the USA against the Czech Republic he he lost to Yuri leeka the Czech Republic won the tie over Germany 3-2 dot against the US he lost to Taylor Fritz the USA beat Germany 5 to zero Germany failed to qualify for The Knockout round and ended third in group C seated 12 that the Australian Open he won his first match since June 2022 by beating lucky loser won Pablo verillas in the first round in five sets he was defeated in the second round by American and lucky loser Michael Mo in four sets in 2024 Z returned to the United Cup in Sydney Australia for the second consecutive year leading team Germany alongside Angelique Kerber he won both of his singles matches in the round robin stage defeating Lorenzo Sano of Italy and Adrien manarino of France both in three sets he played both mixed doubles matches in both ties with Angelique Kerber partnering for the first time since 2019 and won against team Italy but not Team France despite this team Germany managed to qualify as the best runner-up team from all countries participating in Sydney advancing to the quarterfinals against Greece there Z have decisively won his singles match against Stefanos cspz and his mixed doubles match partnering with double specialist Laura siegemund against Maria sakur and Petro cyod I and the semi-final tie against Australia Zev was defeated by Alex De Manor in three sets allowing the Australian to crack the top 10 after previously making top 10 wins against Taylor Fritz and Novak jokovic earlier that week he then participated in the mixed doubles match with siegemund against Australia storm Hunter and Matthew epton saving two match points Zev and siegemund won their match in a match tie break score of 15-13 and with Kerber's earlier narrow win against alot tomanovic team Germany qualified for the final against team Poland after Kerber was unsuccessful against the Polish world number one IG swch zv made a critical comeback wi against Poland's Hubert herx saving two championship points in the process and leveled the tie one to one partnering once more with siegemund Z played the mixed doubles match and successfully defeated the Polish pair of herx and swek in a decisive match tie break and won the United cup for team Germany I in the process he won his first team event since the labor Cup in 2021 playing style Zev hitting a forehand Zev is an aggressive baseliner he often stands way back behind the Baseline and aims to hit powerful ground strokes either for winners or to wear down his opponent although his height slows him down on the court it also adds to his reach and gives him the ability to get more balls back in play Novak jokovic has commented he moves well for his height his backhand in particular is regarded as his strength and one of the best in the game he can generate a lot of power off it with high accuracy and his ability to absorb Pace makes it one of the best shots in the modern game for rally tolerance he often uses a semi-open stance and employs a western grip on his forehand he has a continental Eastern grip on his backhand Zev can also slice his backhands that require a low center of gravity despite his height he is often criticized for being too passive and having a weaker forehand than that of other top 10 players with sh's height of 1.98 m 6' 6 in he can generate big serves at 220 kmph 140 mph or faster at sharper angles than shorter players the year's Vera first broke into the top 20 he was still not one of the better servers on tour ranking just 38th in serve rating this was well behind him ranking 18th in return rating showing that his return game was much stronger than his serving Doby 2018 he had a improved in both categories ranking 19th in serve rating and eighth in return rating zov excels in particular at hitting a high percentage of first serves in landing 64.2% in 2018 in his return game he had the fifth highest percentage of first serve points won that year at 32.4% his second serve has been a weakness for him in his earlier Years yet he has managed to turn it into a consistent strength Z have hit the most double faults on tour in 2016 and 2020 while it has improved since it can still cause trouble for the German in big points Zev serving Zev is an all Court player and does not aim to be better on any surface in particular he has said I feel like I can play on all surfaces I've been to two finals or one tournaments on every single surface I don't feel like I have to focus on one I feel like I have good chances at all of them Tony Nadal the uncle and coach of Raphael Nadal has praised his ability on hard courts in particular saying his best surface is in my eyes the hard court because he moves better than he does on Clay six of Z's first 10 titles came on hard courts while the other four were on Clay as of 2024 he has yet to win a title on grass but has reached two finals and defeated Federer on that surface his best grass tournament remains hi in his home country Zev has the ability to serve andali as well his older brother Misha is regarded as the biggest proponent of this playing style on the modern tour although Zev does not employ this technique as often as his brother he has shown it can be effective in big matches such as the Madrid Masters final against Dominic tame a player who rarely comes to the net dot ver of's volley and overhead technique are regarded as some of his biggest weaknesses zov was tall but skinny and not very muscular when growing up his fitness trainer jez green has focused on making him stronger and set a goal for him to add 4 kg 8.8 lbs of muscle each year initially Zev had difficulty adjusting to this training Style on the court saying I had no idea what was going on in my body and needed to adapt his shot technique as he became more muscular eventually he improved on the court green remarked he started to become less wobbly he started want to absorb the power so when someone hit hard he could hit the ball back and everything locked into place coaching team Zev has been coached by his parents since he was very young his mother was initially his primary coach before his father took over at some point Zev made the decision to hire former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Washington open in the summer of 2017 he fired Ferrero following the 2018 Australian Open after Ferrero criticized the rest of zev's coaching team Ivan lendel another former world number one joined zev's team in August 2018 they split up in July 2019 due to disappointing results and personal differences Zev has stated that lendel was more interested in his dog or his golf game then in professional coaching in 2020 Zev started to work with former world number three and 2013 French Open finalist David farer they announced their split in January 2021 zev's coaching team also includes physio Hugo gravel fitness trainer jez green who previously worked with Andy Murray also worked with Zev beginning 2013 do green departed zev's team in 2021 after working with him for around 7 years controversies covid-19 pandemic in June 2020 following Novak jovic's audrea tour several players tested positive for covid-19 due to his possible exposure Zev announced on Twitter that he would be following self-isolation procedures after testing negative for the virus however one week later zov was captured on video at a party in Monaco prompting criticism from fellow tennis players Nick Kiros and Katie Bolter first allegation of domestic abuse in October 2020 zov's ex-girlfriend Olga Sharapova in an article in racket magazine by journalist Ben Rothenberg accused a physically and emotionally abusing her over the course of their relationship Sharapova named multiple instances where zav allegedly became violent towards her including punching her in the face during an argument that took place in the Paris hotel room while Zev was competing at the 2009 labor cups verev denied the allegations and issued a statement after sharapova's initial accusations I very much regret that she makes such statements because the accusations are simply not true a second article by Rothenberg about the allegations was released in August 2021 this time in slate magazine the second article picked up sharapova's story where the first left off it includes this description of the alleged violence escalating in October of 2019 Sharapova said she went to take a shower during which spev continued berading her from outside the bathroom door when I got out of the shower I was starting to take a tell and he came and said pack your stuff right now and leave sherov recall I'm just like okay can you wait a few minutes please I'm naked here from there Sharapova said zav attacked her more violently than he ever had before she said that he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against the hard tile wall of the bathroom he started to punch me and this time I understand that I can't be do for punching she said Rothenberg reports that Sharapova has repeatedly said that she is not interested in pursuing criminal or civil action against spev she told Rothenberg she wanted to be open and honest to help other women who tend to stay silent in such situations due to fear of not being believed zov secured an injunction from a Berlin court against slate later in August of 2021 barring it from publishing the assault allegations without stronger evidence in response slate stated that it stands by the reporting in the article and has not removed the article from its website they protested that the injunction was obtained without the organization having an opportunity to present evidence and they appealed the decision commentator Mary cillo stepped down from her presenting role at the 2021 labor Cup in response to the adp's handling of the allegations following a 15-month ADP commissioned investigation conducted by the Lake Forest Group a third-party consultant working with the adp's outside legal council Smith Hy and Bucy the ADP announced in late January 2023 that they will not punish spab due to insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations 2022 Mexican open default after a firstr doubles loss at the 2022 Mexican open zov repeatedly struck umpire alesandro German's chair with his racket believing that germani had incorrectly called a ball out during a tie break Zev was subsequently defaulted from the tournament forfeiting all points and prize money that he had won thus far he received the maximum fine of $40,000 by the ADP an additional $25,000 fine and a suspended 8we ban dot he was also placed on probation for one years ver of later issued an apology on social media second allegation of domestic abuse about 6 months after the ADP declined to take action against spov in July 2023 allegations from a second woman became public through a court filing a penalty order in a Berlin Criminal Court was requested over alleged bodily harm against Brenda poter Z's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his daughter dot on October 2nd 20123 the court issued a penalty order against Z for physically abusing and damaging the health of a woman during an argument in Berlin in May 2020 the order included a fine of Euro 450 0000 do ver of lodged an appeal against the order which under German law results in a public trial poter spoke publicly for the first first time about the alleged abuse on November 1st 2023 in an interview with the Seda zum she said that during a dispute in May 2020 Zev pushed her into a wall and choked her in January 2024 Zev was appointed to serve on the ADP players advisory Council the ADP has been criticized for allowing him to serve on the council while the domestic abuse charge is pending in a criminal court also in January 2024 Zev was featured on the second season of the Netflix series breakpoint in an episode focused on his comeback from injury Netflix was criticized for ignoring both allegations of domestic abuse one columnist argued that breakpoint promised to take viewers behind the curtain of professional tennis and reveal the personalities behind it that promises null and void of spev and the media isn't willing to be honest at the beginning of the 2024 Australian Open a court official announced that ZB was scheduled to face trial in the Berlin Criminal Court beginning in May 2024 the timing of the announcement combined with SP of semi final run at the tournament brought heightened interest in and scrutiny of the allegations from both the press and the public the trial began on May 31st 2024 on June 7th 2024 the trial was terminated after a settlement was reached out of court zov agreed to pay €200,000 of which €150,000 go to the German State Treasury and €50,000 will go to charitable organizations the settlement does not include an admission of guilt by verev and he will not have a criminal record under section 153a of the German code of criminal procedure the original €450,000 penalty order issued to zv will also be terminated personal life zov lives in Monte Carlo Monaco doc he grew up in Hamburg and also has spent his Winters living in Florida at the Saddlebrook Academy he can speak German Russian and English Zev has a daughter mea born in 2021 with Brenda poter an ex-girlfriend Zev was the subject of assault allegations from two former partners including poter the mother of his daughter Potter brought a criminal case against Zev that was settled out of court on June 7th 2024 since 2021 Zev has been dating German actress Sophia Toma in 2017 Zev said his tennis Idol is Roger feder he is a fan of the Miami Heat Of The American National Basketball Association NBA and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and in his spare time he enjoys playing basketball and golf his best friend on the tour is Brazilian double specialist Marcelo Melo he is also close friends with Dominic tame and Andre rubloff the latter of whom he has known since childhood Z filed a lawsuit against the AC Group International and its CEO Patricio AP accusing them of unlawful Restraint of trade he argued that the contract between them was oppressive but eventually agreed to settle the dispute out of court before the trial began Health in August 2022 zov announced that he has Type 1 diabetes having been diagnosed at the age of three dot that year he launched the Alexander Vera Foundation a charity to support people with diabetes during a match at the 202 Three French Open Zab was disallowed from injecting insulin on court prompting criticism from the international diabetes Federation and the JDRF tournament organizers later clarified that Zev would be permitted to inject insulin on court