“Roger was always my favorite player,” – Alexander Zverev. The 27-year-old German tennis player still remembers the day when he received a headband from the ‘Swiss Maestro’ when he was still a kid. Zverev has always admired the way Roger Federer made the game look so easy. Keeping our focus on the playing style, well, Federer recently stated that Zverev’s passive style of play in crucial moments at major events is stopping him from winning a Grand Slam title. However, Alexander Zverev has now come up with a response to that comment from his tennis idol.

Zverev has reached the finals of Grand Slam events twice in his career (2024 French Open and 2020 US Open). Apart from that, he has reached the SF of the AO twice in his career. So, it has been more like ‘so-close-yet-so-far’ for the German! Reflecting on those near misses, Roger Federer stated, “When I watch him play, I see someone who plays far too passively, far too defensively in the decisive moments.” He took the example of his recent QF match at the US Open and added, “Against the best players in the world, you have to take the initiative and play offensively. He didn’t do that against Fritz.”

According to Federer, “There’s not much missing. But to win a Grand Slam you have to trust your shots and play more offensively. He has to believe in this path. Every cell in your body has to feel that this is the only right way. The title doesn’t just come to you, especially not the first one.” He highly stressed the fact that he has to play more offensively to win a major title in his career. In response to these observations from the tennis great, Alexander Zverev admitted, “That’s nothing I don’t know. It’s absolutely clear to me that I didn’t play the way I want to play. That was a terrible game from me. That’s why it’s completely okay what Roger said.“

Zverev is one of the fewest players to have an edge over Roger Federer in the H2H (4-3). There have been multiple such moments when we spotted Federer heaping praise on the German. For example, after winning his matches against Zverev at the ATP Finals in 2017, Roger Federer said that he was impressed not only with how Zverev plays the game but also with how he’s looking further down the line to plan for his future in the racquet sport. He labeled Alexander Zverev as a “full package“. 

Last month during an interview, we heard Zverev make a bizarre claim about Roger Federer. He stated that the hard courts at some tournaments were made “very very fast” to help Roger Federer when the tennis legend was on the Tour. Is it true? We don’t know, but there have been multiple such instances when we witnessed both of these tennis stars speak about each other.

How is Alexander Zverev’s relationship with Roger Federer?

In 2021, when Alexander Zverev parted ways with Roger Federer’s management brand, Team 8, we heard him say that they have an “amazing relationship” which he hopes will remain forever. Then a year later, he elaborated a bit more on his relationship with his tennis idol. Zverev revealed, “We haven’t spent as much time together lately, and he’s not the type of guy that has a lot of phone contact. You need to be in person to have a great relationship.“

He spoke about how Roger Federer was more like a “role model” to him when he started his journey in the racquet sport. Zverev revealed the moment when he got the chance to speak with the ‘Swiss Maestro’ when he was just a youngster on the Tour. During their conversation, Federer explained to Zverev what it’s like to be at the top of the rankings and how they handle the media, sponsors, and all of that. The German still believes those conversations helped him a lot in his journey.

Recently, Roger Federer also expressed his excitement to see Alexander Zverev play at the Uber Arena in front of a German home crowd for the Laver Cup competition. He said, “I think that’s going to be a great thing for him like it was for me when I played in Geneva in Switzerland.“ Zverev’s journey so far has been full of ups and downs! Do you think he can win a Grand Slam title in 2025?