"Alexander Zverev is a strong human being, he absorbs stress and critics very well" - Mischa Zverev on allegations against his brother
Alexander Zverev's brother Mishca Zverev recently appeared on German sports journalist Jannik Schneider's Advantage Podcast. During the episode, Mischa opened up about the rumors surrounding his brother's partnership with Adidas, how he is dealing with the recent domestic abuse allegations made by his ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova, and the parallels between his playing style and Roger Federer's.
While Alexander Zverev has been thriving on the court this season with five ATP titles and an Olympics gold medal, his personal life has been under a cloud. In August, Ben Rothenberg released the second part of his interview with Olga Sharypova, elaborating on instances when the German allegedly engaged in domestic abuse.
Zverev has repeatedly denied the allegations and is currently taking legal action against Rothenberg. The ATP, meanwhile, has launched an investigation into the matter under its new approach to domestic violence cases.
Speaking about the issue, Misha claimed that his brother has always had the ability to separate his personal and professional lives and maximize his results on the court.
"He [Alexander Zverev] tries to focus on what he is able to control," Mischa said. "He absorbs stress and critics very well to focus on tennis. He is just a strong human being and [has been] able to control difficult situations from a young age."
Mischa further explained that a legal situation is nothing new for the World No. 3, citing the case against his former management company, ACE Group International.
"His lawsuit against former manager took almost two years and it was very stressful for Sascha [Zverev]," Mischa added. "Back then he learnt a lot of things about how to deal with difficult situations off the court."
When asked about Zverev's contract with Adidas, which reportedly ends in a couple of months, Mischa did not confirm a contract extension. However, he mentioned that there were no hiccups in Zverev's partnership with Adidas even after the recent flare-up of controversies around the player.
"With Adidas everything is alright," Mischa said. "He has the newest stuff from Adidas and our mum always asks him whether he wants to wear the new shirts for practice or not, and he always replies, 'No, I want to wear the clothes from the Olympics.' He just loves them and the memories which came with that. That's just Sascha for you."
Alexander Zverev still has a lot that he can improve on in comparison to Daniil Medvedev: Mischa Zverev
During the episode, Mischa Zverev also spoke about what makes Daniil Medvedev an outstanding tennis player in every regard. Mischa believes that his brother lacks the "maturity" that the Russian has in his game.
"Medvedev plays very, very good tennis," Mischa said. "He does a lot of things right in terms of playing style, tactics, technique. Of course it could be that I'm wrong, but whenever I see Medvedev's tennis, it is very mature, too."
"When I look at Sascha [Zverev], there is still so much that he can improve," he added. "Match preparation, tactics wise, how to handle the big points."
Mischa Zverev went on to commend Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev for their tactical usage of court positioning. He also compared his brother's playing style to Roger Federer's, saying that they both stick to their court positioning irrespective of the opponent.
"We have to take care about Sascha's baseline position," Mischa said. "You need different positions against different players. It depends on how flat or spinny an opponent plays. Medvedev and Djokovic do this so well.
"Sascha is more like Roger Federer," Mischa added. "He likes to take his court position and play his game."