Sweat session that prepared Alexander Zverev to topple world

We’ve hoped for years that an Aussie could take the baton from Federer and Nadal. But new young guns have emerged. Chat live with Will Swanton now.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev poses with the trophy after beating Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Picture: AP

Alexander Zverev was beaten by Juan Martin del Potro in the third round of this year’s Australian Open. He stayed in town to train for a Davis Cup tie, ploughing through teenage hitting partners on the back courts at Melbourne Park like a frustrated boxer beating up on his sparring opponents.

There was a machine-like intensity to Zverev during these invisible hours of preparation that shocked and fascinated those in attendance.

Zverev was being pegged as the next long-term world No 1 unless Nick Kyrgios got his act together and blew the entire tour to smithereens. The German’s loss at the Open meant his majors record was (and still is) diabolical, but the way he threw himself into those sweat-soaked training routines in Melbourne was a revelation.

He could have given himself a week off to spend his millions of euros at Crown Casino. He could have skipped town and taken a holiday. A good-looking lad with unscheduled time up his sleeve in a metropolitan city could have gleefully dived into all sorts of mischief.

Instead, he hit the covers off tennis balls. One training partner was run ragged. Next. Another was out on his feet. Next! If it was a bar-room brawl, Zverev was the last man standing, dead bodies strewn everywhere.

A fortnight later, he towelled up Kyrgios to give Germany the win in Brisbane. It is sad really to think that was the last proper Davis Cup tie Australia would play.

THE ZVEREV FILE tennis job

Zverev was the world No 4 on the day of his straight-sets victory over Kyrgios. The Australian was the world No 14. Along with Dominic Thiem, they were the most potent young forces in men’s tennis. They’d be in the top 10 by the end of the year. They’d qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London. They’d position themselves to pounce once Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were put out to pasture.

How did it all pan out? Well, the season finished yesterday with Zverev beating Djokovic 6-4 6-3 in the decider of the Tour Finals.

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios takes to his smartphone following his loss to Bradley Klahn in Shanghai last month. Photo: Getty ImagesS

The 21-year-old remained the world No 4, biding his time behind the immortals. Thiem made the field in London after reaching the French Open final. He’s the world No 8. Kyrgios ballooned to world No 36 this year and took up the services of a sports psychologist.

He said all along that Zverev was the peer with the most long-term upside. And so it was proved when the 21-year-old German peeled off back-to-back wins over Federer and Djokovic in London.

He was booed by London spectators for beating Federer. Yesterday, they drooled. Heading into the Australian summer after a quick detour to the Maldives, Zverev would appear to have the tennis world in the palm of his right hand. If nothing else, after this year’s impromptu boot camp at Melbourne Park, he’s learned the location of the practice courts.

“This trophy means a lot, everything, to all the players,” he said in London.

“You only have so many chances of winning it. You play against the best players only. How I played today, how I won it, for me, it’s quite astonishing. Beating two such players back-to-back, Roger and Novak, means so much. I’m incredibly happy and incredibly proud in this moment right now.”

Zverev’s record of a solitary quarter-final appearance at the majors is a glaring stain on his resume. World No 4s are meant to be perennial semi-finalists. He’s ushered Ivan Lendl, who took Andy Murray to long-awaited majors triumphs, into his coaching box with almost immediate success.

Karen Khachanov of Russia poses with the Paris Masters trophy. Photo: Getty Images

The ATP World Tour boss Chris Kermode would be tickled pink. Casting an eye to a future without Federer, the last two events of the year have been won by enterprising young folk. The Paris Masters went to Karen Khachanov, aged 22 and now ranked no.11 in the world. Zverev won in London. The Next Gen Finals’ champion, 15th-ranked Stefano Tsitsipas, was excitement on legs as he beat Australia’s world no.31 Alex de Minaur. The future’s brighter than we thought.

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece (left) is congratulated by Alex de Minaur of Australia after winning the Next Gen ATP Finals earlier this month. Photo: Getty Images

Asked about improving his majors record while Federer, Nadal and Djokovic wound down their careers, Zverev replied: “I’ll do everything I can to get better and compete with them. Always. I feel like I’m doing that but I have a lot of things to improve. I’m still very young. Hopefully next year, I’ll be able to play even better tennis than I did this year. Djokovic and Federer are still going to be the guys to beat at the big tournaments.

“I’d like to congratulate Novak on a great week and second half of the year. Everyone knows how good of a tennis player you are.

“But I want to mention how good a person you are. We’ve had so many talks. Not only about tennis but all different types of subjects. We’ve had a lot of good talks on life, though I’m not going to talk about what we talked about.”

World tennis’ young stars
(top-ranked male players aged 23 and under)
4. Alexander Zverev (21 years, Germany)
11. Karen Khachanov (22, Russia)
12. Borna Coric (22, Croatia)
15. Stefanos Tsitsipas (20, Greece)
16. Daniil Medvedev (22, Russia)
25. Hyeon Chung (22, Korea)
27. Denis Shapovalov (19, Canada)
31. Alex de Minaur (19, Australia)
36. Nick Kyrgios (23, Australia)
39. Frances Tiafoe (20, USA)