Novak Djokovic: I Hope Zverev Passes Me Someday

Despite a tough loss in the championship match at the ATP Finals yesterday, Novak Djokovic was full of praise for the young German Alexander Zverev.

“I’m really happy for him,” Djokovic said. “Obviously it’s not great to lose a tennis match, especially in the finals of a big tournament. Quite disappointed with my game.

“But I’m happy that he won the big title because we have a really good and friendly relationship. We reside in the same place. We train a lot. We see each other a lot. He comes from a really nice family.

“He won huge tournament, but he always had quality to win a slam,” Djokovic said of Zverev’s Slam chances. “There’s no doubt he will be one of the favorites every slam.”

Djokovic even hopes the 21-year-old Zverev passes his totals overall.

“There’s a lot of similarities in terms of trajectory of professional tennis, in our careers,” Djokovic added. “Hopefully he can surpass me. I sincerely wish him that. He seems like someone that is very dedicated. Without a doubt, he’s a really nice person, someone that gets along very well with everyone.

“He deserves everything he gets so far. There’s a lot of time ahead of him. Wish him to stay healthy and obviously win a lot of titles.”

And he likes what the Zverev does with his game.

“Backhand is always very solid,” assessed Djokovic. “He hits it very flat. It goes through the court. Yeah, he had very good depth today. I mean, he played quite a different match to the one in group stage where he wasn’t playing that great.

“But I think in general he moves well for his height. He was more solid on his forehand that sometimes breaks down. But today it was just very compact, and didn’t make too many errors. When he needed to, he made winners.”