"He was the best coach I had" says Alexander Zverev on David Ferrer

For the majority of his tennis life, Alexander Zverev has been coached by his father Alexander Zverev Sr. but the German also worked with other coaches. Ivan Lendl is one of the coaches that has worked with Zverev but their relationship was never quite good and the partnership never amounted to much. Zverev admitted that in a recent interview with German publication Tennis Magazine:

“[My father] is better than [Ivan] Lendl. For me, that’s not a question at all. I think it was an experience for me to see what and how other coaches think about my tennis. It didn’t work out well with Lendl. It’s not a secret. Personally, we may not have been a good match either."

Pressed about detail Zverev said:

“We just saw things differently on the tennis court, during training sessions. I am someone in my sport too, I am a personality. I am not someone who says yes and amen to everything. I also challenge opinions very often, I always ask why you see it that way and sometimes say, I see it differently."

He then turned to a harsher tone summing up his thoughts:

“You can’t join my team and turn my life and career upside down just because you have a different opinion than me.”

When asked about the other former pro he workd with, David Ferrer, Zverev said fondly:

“For me, besides my father, [David] Ferrer was the best coach I had in my life. But unfortunately we had to stop last year due to the Covid situation. He’s the only one I’d say I’d try again with.”