ATP Coach Spotlight: Alexander Zverev Sr.

While Alexander Zverev Sr. did play himself on the ATP Tour, he has had a bigger impact as a coach helping shape his sons into world-class athletes.

Under his guidance, Alexander Zverev has risen to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, reaching three major finals and securing 23 tour-level titles. His elder son, Mischa Zverev, peaked at World No. 25 in singles and won four doubles titles before retiring in 2023.

A dedicated mentor both on and off the court, Zverev Sr. has been the steady force behind his sons’ success, blending discipline, support and deep tennis knowledge. As part of our ATP Coach of the Month Spotlight, ATPTour.com caught up with him to discuss his coaching journey.

Can you talk about coaching two very different styles in Mischa and Sascha’s games?
Misha and Sascha started playing tennis very early and at that stage, Irina and I simply taught them all the shots that exist in tennis. Then with time as they became older, Mischa trained his strengths, but also worked on his weaknesses, of course, so that they improved. Sascha did the same thing and their game styles became more evident when they approached junior tennis. In the end they turned out to be two different styles of players.

As a coach, did you ever use their brotherly rivalry as a means to get either son to push even harder to improve?
There was competition between Mischa and Sascha, but not in tennis. They competed in everything; computer games, basketball, cards, anything. Whatever they played among themselves, but not in tennis. I would say that they helped each other more, they motivated each other more.

When Sascha was still a junior, still young, Mischa always practiced with him, gave advice on how to play with others, what shots should be used, how to train, everything. In turn, when Mischa was 27 years old, he had surgery on the wrist and somehow was not sure he would be able to play further, Sascha supported him in every possible way, motivated him all the time said. They played a doubles together too.

They won two titles, in Montpellier and Acapulco. So I wouldn't say they had a rivalry, on the contrary they fully supported each other. My wife Irina and I always liked it very much and we were very proud of this relationship between Sascha and Mischa. 

You and your wife Irina were both professional tennis players. How have your experiences shaped your approach to coaching Mischa and Sascha?
It was not easy to train Mischa and Sascha, or better to say, it was not so easy to finish a training session because Mischa could not end practice unless the last point was perfect. He always wanted to play very well [until] the last point, the last shot, and sometimes it lasted for 20-30 minutes. Sascha's relationship with training when he was very young was that it was very difficult for him to leave the court, he just started crying that he also wants to play more, 'I still want to train'.

Even now, already one of the leading players in the world, he sometimes ends a night session at half past eleven or midnight and asks the tournament organisers to let him play after the match for another 30-40 minutes. If specifically about training with Mischa and Sascha, I've always been with them and it is very easy to train them. If they go out on the court, they do everything 100 per cent, to the best of their abilities.

How do you balance the role between being father and coach?
To combine the role of the father and the coach, there are no special difficulties or problems. When I go out on the court, I am a coach, I make a training plan, I follow the performance of the exercises, the quality of the shots, pay attention to the footwork, everything that the coach has to do on the court, so in principle, coaching work, it goes as usual. When the training ends, I'm becoming a father.

What does it mean? It means, you need to give him his recovery drink in time after training, you need to give him his vitamins, let's say, discuss some normal life topics. We would say that I also sometimes need to be a father on the court too. I have to make sure that he feels well, that he hydrates and I also look at the indicators of Sascha's blood sugar levels. I always have glucose.

Then when we come to the hotel, for example, in the evening , we have different interests, so we spend evenings as a rule, separately from each other. We can still go and have dinner together, each one of us is free to do what he likes. For example, Sascha likes playing computer games with his friends, or watching some movies and I have other interests. I like to watch the news about what is happening in the world. In general, combining the roles for me there are no difficulties. It's interesting to be in two roles. I have nothing but positive feelings and positive moments of life and don't find any difficulties with it, for me it's a great pleasure.

Both Sascha and Mischa were standout juniors. Sascha reached junior No. 1 and Mischa reached junior No. 3. What are your favourite memories from those early days?
They were both good juniors. Sascha won the Australian Open, Mischa didn't manage to win, but he was in the semi-finals of the US Open. They both played well, but what's most memorable and probably the most pleasant thing for me was that I saw how [much] they love this sport. How they train, how they actually want to improve their own game and improved it, so it was probably the most pleasant thing in those days to see how my children really want to become good players and in principle, they succeeded.

What role does Mischa now play with the team?
Mischa plays a big role in the team. First of all, he's Sascha's manager together with Sergei Bubka. When he is together with us at tournaments, he also plays the role of a coach, he is always also on the court during tournament. He can also practise with Sascha and his hitting partner, Mikhail Ledovskikh. Mischa also helps Sascha in other matters, relating to managing his media obligations, sponsors, projects outside of tennis. In general, everything that happens in life or if he needs help, he helps him as his brother.

Sascha had the big ankle injury in 2022 at Roland Garros. How difficult was that period and how did you support Sascha through that lengthy time away from the court?
I think injuries for any athlete are very unpleasant moments. It was a very difficult moment here for Sascha as well without exception. It was a very difficult period but when it happened, we just switched our focus from the usual attention to tennis, to what was necessary for the recovery. Every day we would do everything that the doctors said and tried to do everything right.

Sascha often questioned: What will happen in the future, whether he will be able to play again at the same level. There was full support from the family, and we always told him that everything will be fine and it is necessary to recover and continue to play tennis, and that's what happened. Seven months later he started playing tournaments in Australia again and naturally at first the results were not very good, but gradually he improved his game and gradually he felt more confident.

Of course after such injuries to play again in full force and not think about the possibility of getting injured again is not easy, but he did everything well and the result he showed in Paris exactly one year later. He entered the semi final of Roland Garros and showed that he overcame this injury well, recovered well. The doctors did everything right and after this complicated situation everything got its way and things got back to the place they used to be.

Sascha had a great 2024 season and now he’s made a strong start to this season. What has been the key to his success?
The key to success not only in sports but also in any other profession is good and honest work. If he goes out on the court, it doesn't matter on the court or in the gym, he always does everything 100 per cent. I think this is the main key to success and thanks to this he is now standing where he is.

What are you most proud of in your coaching career?
I have never thought about this before. For 37 years I've been doing coaching work. 30 of those years I've been training my children and I don't know that every day I get up and just do my job. It doesn't matter whether it's a 10-year-old boy, the best junior in the world, or the 600th player in the world or 200th or 100th or 20th or 10th or second in the world, I'm just doing my job. I don't know if I can be proud of it or not, but this is my life and at least I'm happy with it.

What is something about a player-coach relationship that most people wouldn’t know?
I think people know almost nothing because the work between a player and the coach is still more or less a private matter. What happens in training, in a relationship or in a discussion, it remains in the team and each team has its own relationship. Therefore, I think it's just such a private and discrete matter and that's why few people talk much about it.

You and your family relocated to Germany in 1991. What challenges did you face establishing yourself in a new country?
In principle, we never had major difficulties or problems with moving or living in Germany because we worked in a club, earned money, and lived. In general, everyone treated us well and everything was fine. It was also necessary to learn better German, and we did it.