Net Worth: $30 Million
Age: 26
DOB: 20 April 1997
Birthplace: Hamburg, Germany
Alexander Zverev is an accomplished German professional tennis player who has the distinction of being the current Olympic Gold Medal holder. In addition to this success he has won 20 other titles and reached a career high ranking of number two in the world.
Zverev was also a former number one at junior level and won the 2014 Australian Open singles title. When he turned professional, he made a very quick impression by becoming one of the youngest ever title winners on the Challenger Tour, at just 17 years old.
Whilst still a teenager, he won a brace of ATP titles and famously upset Roger Federer on grass, who was ranked at number three in the world at the time. At just 20 years old, he achieved the distinction of becoming the youngest player since Novak Djokovic to break into the top 20. Zverev has also played a crucial role in the European Team’s early victories in the Laver Cup, winning the clinching matches in both the 2018 and 2019 events.
All this success has earned Zverev a considerable amount of prize money, resulting in him currently enjoying a significant net worth.
Early Life
Alexander Zverev was born in Hamburg, Germany, to two Russian parents, Alexander Mikhailovich and Irina Zvereva who were both tennis professionals in their youth. Additionally, Mischa, his older sibling is also a professional tennis player.
Alexander’s father was the top men’s ranked player in the country, while his mother was ranked the number four female player in the Soviet Union. They both emigrated to Moscow to train at the CSKA Moscow tennis facility, which was run by the Russian military. However, the Soviet government often barred their nationals from playing outside the Mother country, which severely limited their rankings. During a tennis tournament in Germany, both his parents were offered jobs as tennis instructors, which they accepted. Alexander was born not too long afterwards.
Nicknamed Sascha, Zverev, began playing tennis at the age of 3. By the time he was five years old he started playing tennis for at least half an hour every day. He also played hockey and football as a child, but, after an early-round loss around the age of 12, at a high-level, junior, international competition in Florida, he decided to focus only on tennis.
Junior Career
Zverev began playing junior tennis in January 2011 at the age of 13, participating in a grade 4 tournament in Poland. In early 2011, he entered his first ITF event on the junior circuit at the age of 13. Zverev took out his inaugural ITF title at the Junior Fujairah Championships, a Grade 4, low-level competition in the UAE that took place at the turn of 2012.
A few weeks later, he won a lower-level Grade 5 title at the Oman Junior 2 International, which allowed him to start competing in higher-level events before his 15th birthday. However, he wasn’t overly successful at Grade 2 tournaments or above until the following year when, along with Spencer Papa, he reached two doubles finals in a row at the Grade A Copa Gerdau and the Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships.
Zverev’s early-season success in doubles was a sign of his significant improvement in singles as well. During the clay court European season, he took out his maiden Grade 1 title against Andrey Rublev at the Junior de Beaulieu-sur-Mer Open International. A month later, he followed up that performance with his first Grade A title at the Trofeo Bonfiglio, becoming the youngest boys’ singles champion in the tournament’s history. He finished runner-up at the 2013 French Open to Cristian Garín, and also finished runner-up to Nick Kyrgios at the Junior International Roehampton grass court tournament.
He almost reached another boy’s Grand Slam singles final at the Junior US Open in 2013 but was beaten in the semi-finals by Borna Ćorić, who went on to win the final. However, this success was enough for him to take over the No. 1 ranking in late October.
Turning Pro Career
When he was 14 years old, Zverev participated in the qualifying rounds of three different tennis tournaments, including the 2011 Moselle Open on the ATP Tour, but he lost all of his matches. He won his first professional main draw match against Christian Lichtenegger, a fellow German, at a Futures event in Germany in August 2012. At the end of the year, he reached his first final as a professional, where he was beaten by Florian Reynet, in Florida, at an ITF $10K competition.
In 2013, Zverev focused on playing in junior tournaments and did not reach another professional-level final that year. However, he did make his main draw debut on the ATP Tour in July, but lost in the first round to Roberto Bautista Agut at his hometown tournament, the International German Open. He also made his ATP Challenger Tour debut in August, but lost to Máximo González at the Meerbusch Challenger.
After triumphing at the boys’ singles title at the 2014 Australian Open, Zverev began to focus on his professional career and only played in these type of events for the remainder of the year. Initially, he struggled on the professional tour, failing to qualify for the main draw at his first five events of the season. He did not win a main draw match until his tenth event of the year, where he recorded a single victory at the Heilbronner Neckarcup Challenger. One of his losses during this period was a retirement against his older brother Mischa.
Zverev made his breakthrough at the professional level in July when he took out the Braunschweig Challenger to claim his first title, despite entering the tournament with just one win at career Challenger level, let alone victories against any player in the top 100. However, in this tournament, of the opponents he beat were ranked within the top 100.
At the age of just 17 years and 2 months, Zverev became the youngest player since Bernard Tomic in 2009, to win a Challenger title and the 12th youngest player overall in history. Zverev backed up this competition win by breaking through at the ATP Tour level. He participated in the German Open
International having never previously won an ATP tournament match, yet managed to reach the semi-finals. During the tournament, he became the first 17-year-old male tennis player to beat an opponent in the top 20 since Richard Gasquet achieved this feat in 2004 and the first to make a semi-final since Marin Čilić did so in 2006.
Current Pro Record
Zverev has accumulated just under US $40 million in prize money since turning professional. This places him sixth overall in the all-time rankings for earnings. At the time of writing, his win ratio is 69.3%, having been victorious in 401 out of 579 matches he has played in ATP Tour, Grand Slam and Davis Cup events.
All told, in singles tournaments Zverev has won 21 titles. He also achieved a number two ranking in June 2022, though currently sits at number six. He has never won a grand slam, though he did make the final of the US Open in 2020 and has made four semi finals, including at three consecutive French Opens and the Australian Open. He has, however, won two Tour Finals in 2018 and 2021 and an Olympic Gold Medal at the 2020 games.
In doubles he has not been as successful. He holds a career win percentage of 45.9%, having been victorious in 61 out of 133 matches in which he has played. He has won a couple of titles.
Personal Life
When not travelling for tennis, Zverev splits his time between liveing in Monte Carlo, Monaco and Florida.
Zverev is multilingual, as he can speak German, English and Russian fluently. In 2021, he had a daughter with his then partner Brenda Patea. However, he is currently dating Sophia Thomalla, a German actress.
Outside of tennis, Zverev has plenty of interests. He supports Bayern Munich in football and the Miami Heat in the NBA. He also likes to play golf and basketball.
Alexander counts the Brazilian, Marcelo Melo, who has previously won Wimbledon and the French Open as his best friend on the circuit. His tennis hero is Roger Federer.
Court Case
Despite his on-court successes, Zverev has been accused of domestic violence on multiple occasions. The latest accusation has been filed by Brenda Patea, his former partner. Alexander was issued a penalty order by a German Court – to which he has launched an objection.
Notwithstanding, he is presently due to face trial in May 2024 in the Berlin Criminal Court.