Alexander Zverev candidly reflected on the evolution of his on-court anger management over the years in the aftermath of his comeback win over Alexei Popyrin in the men’s singles quarterfinals of the 2025 National Bank Open in Toronto. The German also drew a parallel to the legendary Roger Federer, recalling how the Swiss managed to leave the outbursts of his early tennis-playing years behind him.
There was a time when Zverev often failed to control his emotions on the court, leading to numerous broken rackets and controversial exchanges with match officials. After losing the first set of his quarterfinal clash against Popyrin in Toronto, the German cut a frustrated figure, but he didn’t let his frustrations overwhelm him. The World No. 3’s mentality ultimately proved instrumental in orchestrating his 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 over the defending champion.
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Later, at a post-match press conference, Alexander Zverev was asked why he steers clear of breaking rackets and other on-court outbursts in general these days. The German cited fatherhood and his desire to be "remembered" for his achievements and performances in tennis as the two main reasons. Zverev became a father in March 2021 after his ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea, gave birth to the their daughter, Mayla.
"One is about taking responsibility of who you are as a person. Number one thing, I've said it before, but I'm a father now, so I want to be a good example there. Also, you know, I want to be remembered for my tennis. I want to be remembered for what I've achieved on the court, for what I've done on the tennis court," Zverev said.
The 24-time ATP Tour-level singles titlist also cited the noble work he does through the Alexander Zverev Foundation, which primarily helps children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, a condition the German himself was diagnosed with when he was only four years old.
"Also for the good things I do outside the tennis court as well. Because I feel like there's quite a lot of work that I do with my foundation, and with my family as well, which can be beneficial and helps people around the world. So I would much rather be known and remembered for that than the outbursts that I used to have, right? Yeah, that's just something that at some point it just comes," he added.
The three-time Major finalist concluded by drawing a parallel to former No. 1 and 20-time Grand Slam champion, the now-retired Roger Federer, saying:
"It came with Roger as well. Roger used to have outbursts like crazy, and then he changed, he became Roger Federer, he became this perfection that we all know him as now. But it wasn't always that case. But, yeah, something in the mind clicked and decided to, yeah, to be different on the court," Zverev stated to end the presser.
"I don't break rackets anymore" - Alexander Zverev
Earlier in the same press conference at the 2025 National Bank Open in Toronto, Alexander Zverev opined that had he experienced the kind of frustration he did after losing the first set to Alexei Popyrin, it would have led him to breaking a racket a few years ago. He also recalled the last time he broke a racket and made it clear that he has no intention of repeating the controversial act in future.
"Well, a few years ago it would have been a broken racquet, for sure. But I don't break racquets any more. The last time I broke a racquet was two, I think three and a half years ago, that was the last time I broke a racquet. I'm not planning on changing that," Alexander Zverev said.
The German's next challenge in Toronto is a semifinal showdown against No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov. Zverev leads the head-to-head 5-2 and interestingly, his last loss to the Russian came at the 2019 edition of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Canada. Since then, the pair have played three, with the German winning all of them.
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