German tennis player Alexander Zverev has shown considerable development this season. The World No. 3 ended his season on a high, beating Daniil Medvedev to the ATP Finals trophy, a season in which he also bagged Olympic gold. 

However, early in his career, there was a time when former great Ivan Lendl joined the Zverev camp. Unfortunately, their partnership never clicked, and the German was unable to create a big impact at Grand Slam events. 7-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander recently spoke about Zverev and Lendl’s time together. 

The Swedish former player stated, “We saw with Sascha Zverev – Ivan Lendl did not help Sascha Zverev at all! He was forced to try with these superstar coaches. It doesn’t work for an 18-year-old. They need to grow up in their own time and with Emma Raducanu, I’m sorry, but it’s not a good idea to have too many voices in her head. The only voice she needs to listen to is her own.”

Ivan Lendl joined the Alexander Zverev camp when he was a teenager 

Mats felt that Alexander was too young when he appointed Lendl as his coach. Wilander’s comments came during a discussion about the coaching situation of British youngster, Emma Raducanu. He feels that young players shouldn’t go chasing superstar coaches, and rather need time to grow on their own. 

Wilander would be the perfect person to advise young stars, as the 57-year-old shot to the limelight after winning the French Open at just 17 years of age. 

Coming to tennis, Zverev had a successful season this year in which he won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and ended the season by winning the ATP Finals for the second time in his career. It will be interesting to see how Zverev prepares himself for the 2022 season. All eyes will be on the rising tennis star to see if he can grab his first Grand Slam. 

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