I Can’t Play Like Federer and Nadal: Zverev

Germany’s Alexander Zverev has admitted that he cannot play like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He had recently prevailed in his second five-set match in three days against No 26 seed Damir Dzumhur.

The 21-year old took a 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 victory to advance to the fourth round of the French Open. Now, he will face Karen Khachanov and will be hoping to reach a first ever Grand Slam quarter-final.

It is surprising to see that he has not reached the last eight of tennis’ biggest tournaments despite being ranked currently ranked World No 3.

But Zverev believes that with the right coaching, he will be able to develop as a player in the right direction.

“The coach is the person that gives you confidence in the moments where you don’t have it yourself,” Zverev said.

“A coach will see what you need to work on before it goes wrong. And that’s what my dad has been doing great for the past 20 years with me.

He also said: “We are always going to work on different things. Also tactical things.

“[Coaches] are going to watch matches of opponents, previous matches, spot things.

“They’re going to kind of have the same mind as you and kind of get into your body and play the game with you as you are, because, I mean, I will not be able to play like Federer, I will not be able to play like Nadal so I have to find my ways to hurt different opponents.

“I think that’s what a coach will give you.

“He’ll give you the right directions to do that.”

“For me, a great coach can read a 12-year-old, 13-year-old kid, how he’s going to play when he’s 20, 21, 22, and to structure the game that way for him to be successful when he’s older and not necessarily when he’s 14 or 15,” Zverev added.

“Because when you’re 14 or 15 you’re playing juniors, it’s great to be the best there but it’s not the most important thing.

“You know, I was never No 1 in Europe on the 14s.

“I was never “the” best, but he always said you have to play a certain way.

“You have to play this way for later to be the best.

“I think he saw that when I was 12, 13 years old and structured my game that way in practice obviously, as well.

“Same goes with my brother [Mischa Zverev, world No 64] because my brother has a completely different game style.

“And, training two players like that that are completely different shows how much skill you have to have as a coach.”