Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev (, born 22 January 1960) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

player from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

who competed for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Career

In 1979, he made his first appearance for the Soviet Davis Cup team. Zverev was a bronze medalist in the men's singles event at the

1983 Summer Universiade The 1983 Summer Universiade, also known as the 1983 World University Games or XII Summer Universiade, took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between July 1 and 12, 1983. Over 2400 athletes from 73 countries participated. It was the first time Can ...

and won a singles gold medal at the

Friendship Games The Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (russian: Дружба-84, ''Druzhba-84''), was an international multi-sport event held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the Soviet Union and eight other socialist states which boycotted the 1984 ...

, which were held in 1984. He did better than two years earlier at the

1985 Summer Universiade The 1985 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIII Summer Universiade, took place in Kobe, Japan. Mascot The mascot of the Kobe Universiade, "Unitan", designed by Osamu Tezuka, is a red-crested white crane, symbolic of Japan and a good omen. T ...

, winning both the singles gold medal and the doubles gold medal, partnering Sergi Leonyuk, with whom he was also a gold medalist in the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Gam ...

. He appeared in three

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

tournaments during his career.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> In the

1985 Australian Open The 1985 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 74th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 25 November through 8 December 1985; ...

he qualified for the main draw and was beaten in the opening round by Tim Wilkison. Again playing as a qualifier, Zverev met

Tim Mayotte Timothy Mayotte (born August 3, 1960) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Professional career A tall serve-and-volleyer, Mayotte learned to play the game on the public courts of Forest Park in his hometown of Springfi ...

in the first round of the

1986 Wimbledon Championships The 1986 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 100th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

and was defeated in straight sets. As a mixed doubles player he took part in the

1986 French Open The 1986 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 26 May until 8 June. It was the 90th staging of the French Open, and the first Gra ...

with Svetlana Cherneva. Zverev played mostly on the

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

circuit, where he had victories over two top 50 players,

Andrei Chesnokov Andrei Eduardovich Chesnokov (russian: Андрей Эдуардович Чесноков, links=no; born 2 February 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. Career Chesnokov's highest singles ranking was World No. 9 in 1991. ...

and

Jan Gunnarsson Jan Gunnarsson (born 30 May 1962) is a former tennis player from Sweden, who won one singles in Vienna in 1985 (beating Libor Pimek in the final) and nine doubles titles on the world tour during his professional career. In 1989 he reached the ...

. He did however make the second round of the

1985 Geneva Open The 1985 Geneva Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts that was part of the 1985 Nabisco Grand Prix. It was played at Geneva, Switzerland from 16 September through 23 September 1985. Third-seeded Tomáš Šmíd won the si ...

, a

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

tournament. He played his final

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the orga ...

tie in 1987 and retired having taken part in 36 rubbers, from which he won 18. One of those was a doubles win over the Czechoslovak pairing of

Libor Pimek Libor Pimek (born 3 August 1963) is a former professional male tennis player. Pimek's best Grand Slam singles result came at the 1987 US Open when he reached the 3rd round, losing to Swede Mats Wilander in straight sets. He won one singles tou ...

and

Tomáš Šmíd Tomáš Šmíd (born 20 May 1956) is a former tennis player from Czechoslovakia, who won nine singles titles during his career. In doubles, he won 54 titles and was world No. 1 in doubles from December 17, 1984 to August 11, 1985. The right-hande ...

, the latter ranked number one in the world for doubles at the time. Three time Soviet champion in men's singles and 4 time winner in men's doubles.

Personal life

In 1991, Zverev and his wife, professional tennis player

Irina Zvereva Irina Zvereva (née Fateeva; ; born 11 April 1967) is a former professional tennis player who represented the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States. She competed in the doubles event at the 1990 Moscow Open, a tournament on the ...

, relocated to Germany. They are parents to tennis players

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

and

Mischa Mischa is a diminutive form of the name Mikhail. Men * Mischa Auer (1905–1967), Russian actor born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky * Mikhail Mischa Bakaleinikoff (1890–1960), Russian-born musical director, Hollywood film composer and conduc ...

who both represent Germany on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organisa ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zverev, Alexander 1960 births Living people Soviet male tennis players Summer World University Games medalists in tennis Soviet emigrants to Germany Russian emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany Sportspeople from Sochi Goodwill Games medalists in tennis FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Soviet Union FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Friendship Games medalists in tennis