Tennis
ESPN staff 7y

Alexander Zverev credits sibling rivalry for rapid rise

Tennis

Emerging tennis prodigy Alexander Zverev has reflected on his upbringing after disposing of Novak Djokovic in the Italian Open final.

The 20-year-old won his first ATP Masters title in Rome by upsetting second seed Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 -- becoming the first player born in the 1990s to win a Masters 1000 title in the process.

Germany's Zverev is the younger brother of world No. 33 Mischa Zverev and believes the competitive nature of their relationship has been a key factor in his success.

Zverev, who has broken into the top 10, told The Independent: "We're very competitive together. Everything we do has to be some kind of competition.

"My success has a lot to do with Mischa. He was the one who always used to practise with me when I was little, when I was a junior.

"I think he's seen me do well and he's seen me playing on the professional tour and he got really motivated. I think he thought: 'I want to play a few more years with my brother, travel with him and play in the same tournaments as him.'

"Also, since I started playing well we've had a lot of very long and very intensive practice sessions, which I think helped his game and mine."

Zverev heads for the French Open looking for his first Grand Slam title as the ninth seed.

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