"I felt so bad": Alexander Zverev shares what he 'couldn't do' while playing against his brother in 2014

Germany’s Alexander Zverev has shared an interesting story where he decided to retire to avoid beating his brother. The 28-year-old recently appeared in the Nothing Major Podcast episode released on August 02, 2025, where he spoke about how he decided to retire from a qualifying round contest in 2014 against his brother when he was 3-2 in the third set, just to avoid beating him.

"We actually played one more time in Houston, but we played in qualies in 2014. And I actually, don't know if people know that, he (Mischa) knows that, we played a very long three-set match,” he said. “We played for like, three hours, and then it was like 3-2 in the third set. I think I was up 3-2 in the third set with a break, and I felt so bad that I pulled out. Yeah, I pulled out, I couldn't beat him. I just couldn't do it.”

Zverev is currently taking part in the Canadian Open, where he cemented his spot in the quarterfinal after being awarded a walkover in the round of 16 clash against Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina. The final score of the match was 6-4, 1-0. Talking after the match to the media, Zverev spoke at length about what Cerundolo told him and how disappointed he was after having to retire midway through the match. Zverev also revealed that he told Cerundolo that he should prioritise taking care of himself before thinking about losing the match.

“I saw that he’s extremely upset at five-four, and of course, I know that [with] an abdominal injury, you can’t serve, you can’t really accelerate on your forehand, and there’s nothing much you can do,” said Zverev. “So I saw that, you know, he almost had tears in his eyes and I wanted to just talk to him and he said that the only reason he wants to keep playing is for the people. I told him, look, man, sometimes you’ve got to take care of yourself, because, you know, an abdominal injury can go very quickly from a few days to a few months, and I definitely don’t want to see him out for a few months. I definitely want to see him on tour and do well because he’s having an incredible season. I have so much respect for him. He’s an incredible guy. He beat me three times before that, and I don’t have a single bad word to say about him.”

Regardless of how he got the result, Zverev would be happy to qualify for the last eight of the ongoing ATP 1000 event. It will be Zverev’s ninth quarterfinal appearance in an event in 2025. In the last eight attempts, Zverev has not had a great record as he has won four and lost four. Zverev will now face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the next round. The 25-year-old defeated Denmark’s Holger Rune in the round of 16 with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

It will be the fourth meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous three meetings, Zverev had a clear advantage as he won on all three occasions. However, this will be their first meeting in 2025. Their first meeting came way back in 2018 in Basel, where Zverev came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. In 2019, Zverev once again defeated Popyrin, this time in Acapulco, in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-3. Their most recent meeting came in the round of 16 of the Paris Olympics, where Zverev emerged victorious, once again in straight sets, with a score of 7-5, 6-3.