On Saturday at the Australian Open, one of tennis’ biggest rising stars took the court against Rafael Nadal, and nearly beat him.
No. 24 seed and 19-year-old Alexander Zverev gave the 14-time Grand Slam champion all he could handle in a five set thriller. Meanwhile, his older brother is busy making a convincing argument that Alexander is not the only Zverev to look out for. Mischa, a 29-year-old tricky left-hander with an affinity for serve and volleying, is still alive in the Australian Open draw.
“[Mischa] finished last year playing great,” Nadal said earlier this month before playing the elder Zverev in Brisbane. “He's a player, offensive player with a great serve, good volley.”
Before this week, Mischa Zverev's claim to fame was upsetting Nick Kyrgios in Shanghai (in the Aussie's famously controversial tank job episode) on his way to the quarterfinals. He followed that breakthrough week up with a semifinal run (which included an upset over Stan Wawrinka) in Basel.
In a way Mischa Zverev’s match on Sunday against world No. 1 Andy Murray in Rod Laver Arena will be the culmination of a career revival.
"A big factor was my brother because he really pushed me and he made me work hard again,” the world No. 50 said of Alexander. “He's been doing really well the past couple of years and I didn't want to be too far behind him... I feel like I can still play well and do some damage here and there and I just tried to focus a little bit more.”
It wasn’t as simple as seeing Alexander become one of most promising young stars and deciding to push himself, though. A series of injuries from a herniated disc to a fractured wrist kept the older Zverev outside of the Top 100 from the end of 2011 until last season.
In fact, in 2015 the German dropped out of the world’s Top 1,000 for the first time in twelve years, falling as low as No. 1,067. His struggles have turned his saga into one of the most impressive comebacks on tour.
“I was ranked No. 45 in 2009, and I want to be at least 44 someday,” Mischa Zverev said last October. “It's a tough and long way and tennis is improving every couple of years. But I want to do it and I think I can do it and hopefully next year I can finish off with a career-best ranking and hopefully some more victories.”
He's off to a roaring start by reaching the fourth round at a major for the first time in his career, which should push his ranking within that goal. In the second round, Mischa Zverev also came back from two sets down for the first time to upset No. 19 John Isner in a marathon that lasted over four hours.