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Rafael Nadal, David Nalbandian, and Andy Murray have all one thing in common: they have. in the past, beaten Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in back-to-back matches. The latest entrant to this unique group of players is 21-year old German Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev who joined the club last week as he beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic en-route to winning the biggest tournament of his career at the Nitto ATP Finals 2018.
Zverev's stock has been on the rise over the last couple of years. From winning the ATP Next Gen Finals to already being the winner of 3 ATP Masters 1000 titles (the most after the 'Big 4' in the ATP Tour currently), Zverev has made giant strides in his fledgling tennis career. Zverev, who recently hired former tennis great Ivan Lendl as his coach, will look to break his Grand Slam jinx going into the 2019 tennis season.
This slideshow focuses on 4 fun facts about Zverev - the giant slayer that you probably weren't aware of :
# Comes from a family with a tennis background
The Zverev family are probably the most complete of tennis families. Zverev's father Alexander Zverev Sr. was a Russian citizen who was also a professional tennis player. He notably beat Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj and Olympic gold medalist Miroslav Mecir. Zverev's mother Irina was also a professional tennis player.
The Zverev's immigrated to Hamburg Germany in the late 1980s and consequently became German citizens.
Alexander Zverev Jr.'s brother Mischa Zverev is also a notable tennis player on the ATP circuit and is a fine serve-and-volley player. Mischa Zverev famously beat Andy Murray at the Round of 16 at the 2017 Australian Open.
The usually taciturn Ivan Lendl had heaped praise on Alexander Zverev even before he became his coach.
# A penchant for quirky outfits
At the 2017 US Open, the 6'6 German Zverev wore white socks that went up to his knees. It was later learnt that Pharrell Williams was the one who suggested him to wear those hilarious pairs of socks.
"Pharell Williams, who was sitting in my box at the beginning of the match, designed my outfit," Zverev said in his post-match press conference. Zverev clearly didn't want to disappoint one of his biggest fans.
# Multi-million dollar endorsement deals at just 21 years of age
Apart from being sponsored by Head and Adidas for his racquets and on-court apparel, Alexander Zverev also has a few multi-million dollar endorsements deals with few giant conglomerates.
Early this year Zverev partnered with Italian fashion brand Ermenegildo Zegna. The 21-year-old German will become the new face of their new Z Zegna collection.
In 2016, Richard Mille signed in then 19-year old Zverev as its brand ambassador. Ever since the German sports star has been spotted wearing the brand’s watches both on and off the court. There is also a special limited edition watch ‘Alexander Zverev, the RM 67-02’, named after him. In fact, he even sports the brand’s name on his jersey.
In March 2017, Zverev began endorsing the luxury automobile car company – Peugeot. He also has a few Peugeot cars in his personal collection.
Zverev who is only 21 has already made it to the Forbes '30 under 30' List early this year.
Below is a video of one of Zverev's ad campaigns with Peugeot :
# A good sense of humor
The 21-year old richly talented Zverev gets annoyed on-court and is known to smash his racquet. But we have to pardon him considering he's still so young.
Zverev, however, knows how to humor his fans and the audience with classy comments. In his post-match trophy presentation speech, Zverev poked fun at his trainer Jez Green by pointing out to his skinny physique. "Nobody can actually see it, but I did put on some muscle in the last few years" Zverev said.
Another incident comes to mind: At the French Open earlier this year where he made the quarter-finals (his best result in a Grand Slam till date), he was intrigued by a reporter's thick Yorkshire accent. "Where are you from buddy? " he asked the journalist. When the journalist replied, he responded by saying, "If they ever have a tournament there in future, I'm definitely coming just because of that accent.". His quick response left the rest of the journalists in the press room in splits.
