Jim Courier makes honest admission about playing Alexander Zverev's brother as a junior: "I had an ego and didn't want to lose"

Former World No. 1 Jim Courier recently admitted that he did not want to lose to Alexander Zverev's brother Mischa Zverev when they played almost two decades back.

The 54-year-old American, the winner of four Grand Slams, appeared in "A BIS Z Podcast", hosted by the current World No. 2 and his elder brother Mischa Zverev.

Alexander Zverev recalled that Jim Courier played Mischa Zverev when the latter was a junior, whereas Courier had retired a few years back. Courier admitted that he did not want to lose to Mischa Zverev. The American said:

"First of all, I was more worried about trying to beat you, because I think you were like 16 or 17, I was like fresh off the tour. So I still had an ego and didn't want to lose."

Here is the video of the podcast:

Jim Courier won the French Open in 1991 and 1992, and the Australian Open in 1992 and 1993. He remained World No. 1 for 58 weeks between 1992 and 1993. He played his last Grand Slam when he was just 29 years old, at the 2000 Australian Open.

Courier played his last singles match at the 2000 Miami Open, where he defeated David Nalbandian in the first round and then retired after losing to Sweden's Thomas Enqvist in three sets.

37-year-old Mischa Zverev turned pro in 2005 and reached his career high ranking, World No. 25 in 2017. He is not active on the tour now, but he registered wins against former World No. 1s Andy Murray and Juan Carlos Ferrero in his career.

Jim Courier remembers that Alexander Zverev was very passionate as a kid

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 21: Alexander Zverev of Germany is interviewed by on-court presenter Jim Courier after at the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

Alexander Zverev, who won the Olympic Gold Medal in Tokyo 2020, recalled that he was playing with his mother and was running around the court when Jim Courier was playing his brother.

Mischa Zverev asked Jim Courier if he thought that Alexander Zverev would become so good in future. Courier recalled that the two-time Grand Slam finalist was very passionate and did not want to leave the court. He said (via the aforementioned source):

"You were not as tall as you are now. But I could see that you wanted to be there. And you were not going to leave the court, until they took you off the court."

Alexander Zverev turned pro in 2013 and won the ATP Finals title when he was only 21 in 2018. He won the ATP Finals title again in 2021 and achieved his career-high ranking, World No. 2, in 2022.

The German was the top seed at the ongoing BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this week, but he suffered an upset against Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.