"This is mine" - Alexander Zverev's girlfriend Sophia Thomalla playfully claims ownership of Chengdu panda souvenir

Modified Sep 22, 2023 17:07 GMT

Alexander Zverev’s girlfriend Sophia Thomalla claims his panda toy from Chengdu

Alexander Zverev is currently in China for the 2023 Chengdu Open, where he is the top seed and the favorite to win the title.

Before hitting the court, he decided to take some time off and visit the Chengdu Panda Base, a famous attraction that houses more than 100 giant pandas and other endangered species.

Zverev shared his experience on Instagram on Wednesday, September 20. He posted pictures of himself holding a panda soft toy, exploring the panda park, and clicking pictures of the pandas. The German captioned the pictures with a string of panda emojis.

"🐼🐼🐼."

His girlfriend Sophia Thomalla, a German actress, model, and TV presenter, was quick to comment on his post. She wrote -

"This is mine!" - referring to the panda toy that Zverev was holding.

Zverev is coming off a stellar run at the 2023 US Open, where he reached the quarterfinals for the third time. The German defeated Aleksandar Vukic, Daniel Altmaier, Grigor Dimitrov, and Jannik Sinner en route to the last eight, where he faced top seed Carlos Alcaraz and lost 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

The former World No. 2 will now be hoping to win his second title of the year in Chengdu. He received a bye in the first round and will face either Daniel Elahi Galan or Pavel Kotov in his opening match.

Alexander Zverev & Boris Becker demand significant reforms to the Davis Cup format

The current format of the Davis Cup Finals has been met with disapproval from many tennis players, including Alexander Zverev and Boris Becker, who have criticized the way the matches are scheduled.

Becker recently urged the International Tennis Federation to abandon the current format, where teams in one group play all their matches at one venue, and go back to the old ‘home-and-away tie’ format.

“Guys, whoever came up with these rules knows nothing about tennis! A change has to be made quickly, perhaps even back to the old format with home and away games,” Becker said.

The current organizers of the Davis Cup, Kosmos Investment Group, headed by Spanish soccer star Gerard Pique, were criticized by many players for their lack of experience in running tennis tournaments.

Alexander Zverev also expressed his unhappiness with the format. The 26-year-old called for the event to go back to its original format and its "history."

"Absolutely 100% right! The Davis Cup is one of the oldest competitions in the world that money could never have brought. Back to the real Davis Cup and back to tennis history," Zverev wrote in an Instagram story.

Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer