In January last year, Zverev broke up with his agent, Patricio Apey, a former player, with whom Zverev had worked since he was 15. (What began as a tiff evolved….
Zverev is twenty-two. In 2013, at the age of 16, he entered the professional circuit. He was ranked as the fourth-best men’s tennis player in the world at the end of 2018, surpassing younger competitors but trailing the big three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. He recently became the youngest player to win the ATP Finals in ten years after winning the so-called fifth grand slam in London. He had won the junior grand slam and become the global junior No. 1 as a
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had both alluded to Zverev as their potential successor. Here was a talent ready to overthrow the game’s elder greats, finally, following the futile attempts of other once-up-and-coming stars. “A star has arrived,” declared Boris Becker at the conclusion of a 2018 tournament.
Paraphrase
Life was good for a time. There was no hardship in life! Zverev would show up at competitions, exude an air of complete self-assurance, take on any stress (“Pressure is a luxury,” he says in that disposable, athlete manner), and rain down hard, flat serves at 140 mph.
