In a recent interview with Rp-online, vice president of the German Tennis Federation said that they support the 18-year-old Alexander Zverev with 60,000 Euros per year.
Monetary Support To The Rising Star
The German rising star has been making quite a splash in the tennis scene since last year and is being heavily supported and invested upon by his country's tennis federation. Vice president, Dirk Hordoff, said he believes, "We have to treat our talents in order to keep up with other countries." That coming after the decision to invest in a sum of 60,000 Euros per year on the teen, 12 times more than the usual 5,000 Euros they award to promoted players. Most of the money goes to pay for his fitness trainer.
Mr Hordoff also explained that if they had the means they would have provided more. "For example, federations like Australia would invest hundreds of thousands of Euros on Zverev, but we cannot afford it," admits the vice president. It just goes to show that they recognize the talent in young Zverev, so much so that they are willing to support him with as much as they can to nurture and assist him on his rise to being one of the top players.
Future German Hope
The young German who is currently ranked 58, is starting to prove he can one day be among the top players. He recently attained his highest ranking of 56 after having reached the semifinals in Montpellier and making the quarterfinals in Rotterdam. His good run had also earned him his first Davis Cup nomination.
Zverev was close to winning his first match in Davis Cup after leading 2-1 in the rubber before Tomas Berdych edged to snatch victory in a tight five sets encounter. He was emotional thereafter knowing how close he was to victory. Nevertheless he was called upon once again to win the fifth and final rubber to bring Germany to the quarterfinals, but Zverev unfortunately stumbled in the final hurdle.
The teen however has time on his side and knows it takes time to get to the top. For now, with his country's support he would continue on with his hard work and make his steady climb in the ranks.