Just two weeks ago in Marseille, Alexander Zverev came within a whisker of knocking off Tomas Berdych. The German had a break point that would have given him a chance to serve for the match, but Berdych rallied late to stave off the upset.
But there have been others who haven’t been so lucky against the blossoming 18-year-old German.
Already up 30 ranking spots on the season, Zverev has taken out Marin Cilic and Gilles Simon, and reached his first ATP semifinal on a hard court.
Berdych, who shares trainer Jez Green with the young German, knows he’ll have his hands full with Zverev this weekend and the pair prepare to square off in a highly anticipated second rubber in Hannover (Philipp Kohlschreiber and Lukas Rosol will play the first rubber).
It’s going to be a very difficult one,” said Berdych, the veteran of 29 Davis Cup ties and a title winner twice. “No matter what, even if he’s playing his first match in the Davis Cup, he’s a great player, the player to be strong enough to handle that.
“I’m expecting a very tough battle. Just going to try to do my best to help my team bring the points into the locker room.”
Zverev is eagerly anticipating the challenge and will no doubt benefit from the fact that he nearly defeated Berdych in Marseille.
“It feels good to be on the German team, first of all,” said the world No. 56. “It’s such a big honor because we had great tennis players, and still have. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Zverev says that a two-month training block in the off-season has left him in great shape to start the season. He adds that his victories over Cilic and Simon have only bolstered his confidence.
“I did a lot of hard work in this off-season. I did two months. I’ve been working quite a lot,” he said. “That gives me a lot of confidence and really shows me that I can beat those guys now.”
Perhaps the confidence combined with the familiarity that Zverev has with Berdych will help calm the youngster’s nerves as he competes in the competition for the first time.
“I’m looking forward to that match,” Zverev says. “I’m going to enjoy it quite a lot. I know him so well because of all the training blocks we do together, and I’ve played him a few times where it was quite tough as well.”