Alexander Zverev Confident That Lendl Will Help Him Compete For Grand Slams - UBITENNIS

Alexander Zverev Confident That Lendl Will Help Him Compete For Grand Slams

Alexander Zverev is confident that new coach Ivan Lendl can bring grand slam success as he enters a new phase in his career.

By Tony Fairbairn
3 Min Read

Alexander Zverev is confident that his new coaching relationship with Ivan Lendl will help him compete for Grand Slams.

The 21 year old has already made a name for himself at the highest level as he has won three masters 1000 titles with the latest coming in Madrid in May. However one criticism of the German is that he hasn’t showed his talent consistently enough at grand slam level, with Roland Garros being the first time he has beaten a top 50 player at a slam.

Since his quarter-final performance in Paris in June, it has been a frustrating run for Zverev as illness and some mental outrages have lead to some underwhelming performances. Despite this the German is confident of changing his recent bad luck at the US Open as he has hired former grand slam champion, Ivan Lendl as his coach. The Czech Republican has helped Andy Murray to grand slam glory before and is looking to help the German to his maiden grand slam.

The world number four spoke to the press on media day on Friday about his recent coaching change, “Obviously the reason I’m with him is to compete and win the biggest tournaments in the world. That’s the only reason he would join, as well,” Zverev explained.

“There’s a lot of tactical work, for sure. There’s a lot of mental work, as well, to show me what it takes to compete for grand slams, to win grand slams. He’s a smart man, a great guy. Done it as a player, done it as a coach, so he knows what it takes. He knows how to make the best players even better.”

Even though Zverev has known Lendl for a long time he wasn’t the only choice as Boris Becker was also considered to be his coach. The former coach of Novak Djokovic is now apart of the German tennis federation and has been working with Zverev closely throughout their Davis Cup ties.

However the German chose Lendl, due to the links that he had with Zverev’s fitness trainer Jez Green due to their time in Andy Murray’s camp, “One reason was because team members of mine have worked with Ivan before. They know what he brings to the table. Jez, who is also a very good friend, not just a trainer, we’ve been talking a lot who would be a great person. He always felt that Ivan was.”

The 21 year old will be hoping that Lendl has a long lasting impression as the German begins his campaign on Tuesday against Canadian Peter Polansky.

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