The rebirth of Zverev, the champion hungry for Slams

“Anything can happen”. Thus, borrowing the title of Nancy Meyers’ cult comedy starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, Jannik Sinner has designed the final that awaits him on Sunday in Melbourne. On the one hand he, the world number 1, looking for an encore Open d’Australia (it would be his third Slam after the victory at the US Open) on the other German Sasha Zverev number 2 in the world, very hungry for Slams given that, with seven 1000 titles, two ATP Finals and an Olympic gold in 2021 in Tokyo on his CV, he is still without a supreme title (he arrived in the final in 2020 in New York and last year at Roland Garros losing respectively to Dominic Thiem after serving for the match and to Alcaraz).

Djokovic, who opened a highway for him by retiring in the semi-final after losing the first set would like him to win (“Zverev deserves his first Slam, I will root for him and hope he makes it here”) and the numbers of the direct comparisons prove it ahead of the blue: Zverev’s victories are 4 against two (two to one limited to the Slams, with Sinner winning at Roland Garros in 2020 and Sasha at the US Open in 2021 and 2023, a match after which however Sinner took flight towards the top of the world).

The last comparison, the semifinal in Cincinnati was won by Jannik in three very tight sets. So far the numbers. But if it is true that “anything can happen”, what happened to the German giant in the last year (he is 1.98m tall, six centimeters taller than Sinner) must also be told: an existential transformation that has probably made him more solid on the pitch: very effective service with a second ball that no longer causes tantrums and a forehand that is less foul than in the past).

Despite the ranking drawn up in April by the ball boys the 27-year-old from Hamburg is still considered “the most unpleasant”, and every now and then you still argue with the referees, today he offers a very human and even witty side: after the victory in the semi-final against Djokovic, he took the Serbian champion’s defense by scolding the public. Concept reiterated on social media: “Not the best way I would have liked to reach a Slam final. Immense respect for Nole Djokovic, one of the greatest athletes of all time.”

All’Us Open del 2023 Zverev instead had a spectator ejected who, to encourage him, had seen fit to shout a “Germany above everything“explaining to the referee what that fan had said”Hitler’s most famous phrase… It’s unacceptable”. Empathetic, rigorous but also witty considering how he presented himself to the public in Rome, orphan of Sinner struggling with his hip problems, during the awards ceremony of last year’s Italian Internazionali, won over the Chilean Jarry: “Good evening, I’m Jannik “.

Joys often arise from suffering, great results from great mistakes: and in the life of the German who has always been coached by his father Alexander senior, a former Russian tennis player who represented the then USSR in the Davis Cup (but the whole family had the racket in hand, his brother Misha was on the circuit until a few years ago, their mother Irina was a tennis player and coach) there have been no shortages: apart from the type 1 diabetes with which he has lived since he was a child, complete with injected insulin in the field, Sasha was marked by the terrible injury to his right ankle during the semi-final at Roland Garros in 2022 against Nadal: he tore three ligaments while leaving the court in a wheelchair, an injury which after the operation kept him off the court for six months but which gave him the push to rise again.

Just as they must have made him grow the two bad episodes which marked his love life, with very serious accusations of domestic violence: the first in 2019 came from his ex-partner, Olga Sharypova: she said that Sasha tried to suffocate her with a pillow and that he had pushed her against the wall, the ATP opened an internal investigation which was resolved without measures, due to insufficient evidence.

Then there was Brenda Patea, who in 2021 made him the father of little Mayla, specifying, however, once the relationship was already concluded, that he would not be involved in the child’s growth. Between the two of them, again with the accusation of violent behavior, the stamped papers were filed last year with an out-of-court settlement between the two parties, after an initial conviction of the tennis player and his appeal.

Now in his life there is the actress and model (as well as former kickboxing champion) Sophia Tomalla, with which for now everything seems to be going smoothly. Like Zverev, she too is not lacking in humour: in an interview she recounted her boyfriend’s little superstitions including the detail that every evening Sasha goes to the bathroom three times before going to bed.