A few days ago, Patrik Kühnen turned the corner at the Rilano Hotel when he couldn’t believe his eyes: “Suddenly there wasn’t just Lövik, but Lövik junior.” Yes, the Zverev clan, a little breaking news so to speak, has actually grown again, this time it was the turn of the toy poodle with offspring. Alexander Zverev, the top player in the BMW Open at the MTTC Iphitos, which will take place this Saturday, is not just the uncle of Misha’s little son; his brother, who was ten years older, started starting a family two years ago. And he’s not just a father himself, his daughter Mayla was born in March (whom he rarely saw because she lives with her mother). But he can now go for a walk with two dogs, which he just doesn’t come to so often. Mother Irina usually takes care of that, Alexander is primarily still a tennis professional. Although at the Munich ATP event it sometimes seems as if he is actually more of the CEO of the “Zverev Inc. Sons, Daughters, Dogs & Co” group. The world number seven, who recently turned 24, did not come to the Aumeister at the Englischer Garten alone.
For tournament director Patrik Kühnen, 55, who has long been part of the established inventory of this event, this of course means that he has to be even more careful in order to be there for his most important player and his followers. As always, father Alexander is there as a trainer, Mischa received a wildcard for doubles, as did Marcelo Melo, the Brazilian who is close friends with Alexander Zverev and accompanies him almost everywhere – so that he can definitely be counted as part of the clan. Zverev has been playing in Munich since 2014, actually he doesn’t always have to, because the tournament is one of the small ones on the ATP Tour, but those responsible here offer him such a comfortable stage year after year that Zverev, who is otherwise chronically late Professional, this time even arrived a week earlier. Kings could not have been treated much better in the past either.
By the way, there is also an ingenious plan behind this, which is just not communicated so loudly. Munich’s tournament has always worked very well in its niche because they understood one thing: You don’t get Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. But the sizes that are coming are on our hands! It was the same when Tommy Haas was still the face of the tournament. Or when Andy Murray came by and won (only the lederhosen he had to wear, he thought it was a bit strange). “That has always been our claim that the boys feel good,” says Kühnen, “and despite the pandemic, we want to guarantee that now too.”
“I still have to be careful,” says Alexander Zverev
After the 2020 tournament was canceled, this time it will take place without spectators. The matches from the Center Court will, however, be broadcast in the live stream of Bayerischer Rundfunk on BR24sport.de and also on ran.de. Kühnen has now mixed an astonishingly good field that amazes even him: “There are seven players who have already won a tournament this year. I’ve never seen that before.” Namely, the Hungarian Hubert Hurkacz (two), the South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner, the British Dan Evans, the Russian Aslan Karazew, the Italian Lorenzo Sonego and Zverev. Kühnen also welcomed Casper Ruud, who is accompanied by his father Christian, an ex-professional. And he received Sebastian Korda. Against his father Petr, a two-time finalist in Munich, he himself played doubles as a professional. “Family affairs” is what Kühnen calls an attribute that distinguishes this tournament. Family matters, I guess that’s good. Therefore, it is also possible that Zverev breaks the start record of Michail Juschni, who felt like he was there since the Russian Revolution, before the unimaginable occurred: Juschni ended his career, although he belonged to Munich like the Obststandl-Didi.
Of course, Zverev is far from thinking about quitting, but at least this time he is not in the best of shape. As he reported on Friday, he had trained his serve a little too much. The bones and cartilage in the elbow were affected, and on Friday last week he even had his own blood injected into the joint. “I still have to be careful,” he quotes Sports information service, “It has yet to heal completely.” As the top seed, he will not intervene until Wednesday at the earliest. The complaints do not change his ambitions. He wants to win the winning car. “I already have two two-seaters, a four-seater wouldn’t be bad,” he said. On the other hand: does BMW also build buses? The Zverevs would need something more spacious.
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