#2 Alexander Zverev
Trending
Alexander ‘Sascha’ Zverev may be only 19 years old, but he's already beating the best in the business. He pulled off a stunning victory over Roger Federer on the Swiss’ favoured surface, grass, last week at the semi-finals of the Gerry Weber Open.
The young German player comes from a tennis-loving family. His father, Alexander Zverev Snr, competed on the professional circuit for the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 1980s, even participating on the Davis Cup squad.
It wouldn’t be the first time Zverev would be ranked with the best; the youngster was the juniors World No. 1 through 2014 and 2015. He hit his stride only last year, when he began defeating players much higher-ranked than himself.
Last year, he defeated former top-10 player Kevin Anderson of South Africa among a number of players, with even his losses coming fairly closely. He reached his career-highest ranking in 2015, breaking the ATP top 100.
He has already defeated several higher-ranked players this year, and done so successfully across surfaces. He appears to have the most ease on hardcourts, beating Grigor Dimitrov – himself once dubbed ‘Baby Federer’ for his playing style, Ivan Dodig and French ace Gilles Simon.
2016 has been Zverev’s best year yet – only his second year on the ATP circuit. He reached his first ATP final this year, losing to Dominic Thiem, at whose hands he would again lose at his third round match.
Could their rivalry be one of the new iconic ones in the future of tennis? Zverev’s star has been rising, and after his victory over Federer more people have sat up to take notice of the youngster, who is now in the top 30 – and the youngest there.
