WIMBLEDON, England — The sitting forehand volley was there — well above the net — for Alexander Zverev, a lanky German teenager with wavy boy band hair and a serve that rivals that of Roger Federer.
Then, he missed it.
At Indian Wells this year, Zverev, who goes by the nickname “Sascha,” had Rafael Nadal on the ropes in the fourth round. A single string dangling, actually, as Zverev charged in and chased after a volley. But then the ball was in the net, and Nadal won the next three games – and the match.
“Being that close to beating someone like that and in the end losing, it was a little difficult for me mentally,” Zverev, 19, said in a phone interview last week. “I didn’t know how to handle the situation better. That match helped me a lot to become a better player to know what to do in the deciding moments. That was for sure the most painful loss I’ve had so far.”
“So far” isn’t very far for the 6-foot-6 Zverev, who at No. 28 in the world is the fastest-rising tennis star you’ve yet to hear of. Two weeks ago he crossed that precious finish line against Federer, stunning a childhood idol in front of home fans in Halle, Germany.
Zverev, who grew up in tennis following his older brother Mischa, is the first teenager to be ranked inside the top 30 in 10 years, since Novak Djokovic in 2006.
The expectations are Djokovician, in a way, for Zverev, who moves like a swift-footed giraffe on court, his lion’s mane of hair billowing behind a headband. Like contemporaries Nick Kyrgios, Dominic Thiem and Borna Coric, he wants generation next to be generation now, though his patience is what has so far set him apart.
“I’ve been doing this for nearly 30 years, and to have a 19-year-old kid embrace what’s necessary to win in the long term at the tender age of 19, that is just extraordinary,” says his agent, Patricio Apey, who once represented Andy Murray.
Zverev hasn’t had to learn the ropes of the pro tour as he’s blossomed, however. Mischa, a journeyman at 28 having been ranked as high as No. 45 in the world, has served as a de facto chaperone and tour guide on tour to little bro. The benefit? A hard-charging teenager with unabated hunger in his eyes.
“The kid just keeps improving month to month, not year to year,” says commentator Tracy Austin, who knows a thing or two about teen success. “It's just every single time he plays a tournament, it seems like he's gaining valuable experience and knowledge and seems to have this very pretty all-court game already.”
Germany hasn’t had a bona fide tennis star since Steffi Graf was a dominant force in the early 1990s. Boris Becker is still the country’s most famous male player, though those who came after him, such as Rainer Schuettler, Nicolas Kiefer and Tommy Haas had their share of top 10 successes.
Germany wants a megastar, however. Is Zverev it?
“They wait for the next Grand Slam champion in Germany,” Haas says, offering Angelique Kerber’s rise in stature in the country since her Australian Open win in January. “It always seemed like what I was achieving wasn’t enough. I reached No. 2 in the world, but they wanted to see someone win majors. The expectations are really high after Graf and Becker.”
For now, however, Zverev doesn’t expect himself to win majors. At least, not immediately. His Wimbledon campaign started Tuesday when he won the first two sets against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in a match that will be resumed Wednesday. Tomas Berdych, the No. 10 seed and a 2010 finalist here, looms in the third round should he win.
“Right now it’s a learning procedure,” Zverev says. “You have to become the best player you can for later in your career. There are no goals to win Wimbledon this year. Yes, it would be nice, but it’s more about preparing yourself for later years when you can win it.”
Few have been able to break the stronghold that Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Nadal have had on this sport, and notably not any members of “generation next.” Thiem, a 22-year-old Austrian, is Sascha's best friend on tour. He made the semifinals in Roland Garros earlier this month, beating Zverev along the way.
“Maybe it's gonna be a nice rivalry,” Thiem told reporters in Paris before their match. “So probably it (has) already started now.”
Zverev’s father, also named Alexander (his coach), and mother, Irena Zvereva, have been integral parts of his career along with brother Mischa.
“It’s a family business that completely embraces the sport of tennis,” says Apey, the agent. “It’s not a win-at-all-costs approach at all, it’s more about taking the time to develop and do everything the right and proper way.”
But there are always road bumps: Injuries, burnout, distractions. Zverev is soft-spoken in person, but on court he can be fiery, quick-lipped with chair umpires and unafraid to complain about the minor things that bother him. It appears to be part of his greater genius.
“It's always hard to predict which young player will have a successful career or even win a Grand Slam,” says Petra Philippsen, a tennis journalist in Germany. “But what makes Zverev different from others at his age is that he is extremely focused on tennis. And he always has been. He wants the success so badly he subordinates everything else in his life to practice and improving. He's still a teenager, but he doesn't get distracted by all the fun stuff in life. He likes to hang out with friends, too, but it's impressive to see how mature and dedicated he already is.”
In his interview with USA TODAY Sports, Zverev didn’t want to waste a moment, so he took the phone call on the physio’s table, getting his massage during an exhibition event prior to Wimbledon.
It’s a kind of approach that even Federer has taken notice of.
“I think every day that goes by he's going to learn more and only going to become stronger,” Federer said earlier this year. “This is, if you like, the weakest Zverev we'll ever see. He will only get better from here. … For the next few years now he will get so good that I hope he will compete at the top, top 10 at least, if not then top 5 and No. 1.
"No. 1 is always a big ask. A lot of things need to align for that: consistency, fitness, mental. So you make it sound like you just become world No. 1, like, at will. If you look at who's been No. 1, there is not really that many players. I hope he can do it. I think he's a great talent.”
He used that Nadal loss – the haunting vision of his sitter volley into the net – to fuel him against Federer two weeks ago in Germany, but after that semifinal triumph he fell short in the championship match. That loss didn’t sit well with young Sascha.
“Beating someone like Roger on one of his favorite courts, where he has won eight titles, that was something special for me,” he says. “It was a positive week for me, even if I wanted to get the title and didn’t. You can’t always get what you want.”
Or – the Zverev camp hopes – you can’t get what you want… for now. It’s a script he’s still writing.
