On September 23, Spain's retired player Ferrer appeared in Rollagalos to train openly with Zverev Jr. as a coach. In the second round of the Madrid Open last May, Ferrer announced his retirement after losing to Zverev Jr. At that time, probably no one expected that the two would form a master-apprentice relationship the following year.
Chinese fans like to use the nickname "stable man" to refer to Ferrer. The nickname is a veritable one, and Ferrell's most notable feature is stability, and few people can beat him in the bottom line. Djokovic once commented, "Ferrer is as solid as a gambling wall, and many balls can come back, so that opponents have to play more shots." ”
Speaking about his way to win, Ferrell once said, "I try to be stable, to make up for the deficiencies, and if you don't have that weapon, you can do better in possession or better at moving." Federer once said that Ferrell was the best receiver of the atp. In fact, stability is only the appearance we see, and behind it must be excellent physical fitness, flexible and fast movement, more tenacious determination and more enduring patience.
Compared with Ferrer's "stability", what Zverev Jr. lacks most at present is precisely "stability". The selection of a coach by a professional player is somewhat similar to picking a doubles partner, requiring two people to be able to complement each other, be able to have a chemical reaction, and combine to achieve the goal of "1+1>2".
In terms of physical condition, Ferrell is only 1.75 meters tall, and his physical condition and talent are not good enough; while Zverev Jr. is tall and arm-length, and his tennis talent is excellent. When the two are paired, Ferrell can teach the younger Zverev how to make good use of his excellent talents and maximize the advantages of physical fitness.
From the technical point of view, the serve is Ferrell's shortcomings, he can only rely on excellent delivery, rapid movement ability to make up for it; and the serve is the long board of Zverev Jr., who can better learn Ferrer's superb serve technology, improve the stability of the second serve, control and reduce double errors. In addition, Zverev Jr. can also learn from Ferrer how to further improve the connection after the serve, how to improve the movement of the bottom line, and how to improve the ability of the bottom line to hold each other.
Of course, the most important thing is that Ferrell can improve the psychological adjustment ability of the younger Zverev. We all know that Zverev Jr. has weak emotional management ability and often abandons himself when encountering difficulties, and Ferrer is precisely an emotional management expert, his willpower is tenacious and emotionally stable, which are the valuable experience and wealth that Ferrer can pass on to Zverev Jr.
In addition, Ferrero, the former world number one and former coach of Zverev Jr., has publicly criticized the disciples for not being focused enough and the training efficiency is not high. 'I've been training sasha for 8 months and I've noticed that he's had a lot of ups and downs in the same game, which is why he can't get a Grand Slam yet, and this irregularity will give him no advantage in a best-of-five game-three game." Ferrero said bluntly.
The new coach Ferrer was a particularly focused, dedicated and never-give-up player. Nadal once said of Ferrer, "He's a great player and a good example for kids who practice tennis, and he always fights relentlessly on the field." Djokovic once said, "Ferrer is a great fighter on the pitch, fighting for every point." ”
So many excellent qualities in Ferrer are exactly what Zverev Jr. lacks, and it is also a shortcoming that needs to be filled urgently. For Ferrer's characteristics and personality, I believe that Zverev Jr. should have heard about it earlier, and the reason why he hired Ferrer as his coach may indeed be aware of his problems, and Ferrer is precisely the person who can help him solve these problems.
In addition, there is a widely spread saying in the tennis world that most of the super-first-class players will not become coaches after retirement, and only second-rate players will become coaches when they retire. The reason for this is probably that the super first-class players have realized their dreams and have no regrets. Second-rate coaches, on the other hand, have many unfinished goals, and they expect to achieve their unfulfilled dreams in their disciples. For Ferrer, even though I didn't win a Grand Slam, my apprentice could win a Grand Slam, and my apprentice could beat opponents I never won, which was another kind of compensation. On the road to winning the Grand Slam, Ferrer and Zverev Jr. can be described as a mentor and apprentice, and it can even be said that Ferrer's desire for a Grand Slam is stronger than that of Zverev Jr.
A similar example is Lyubic. Before becoming Federer's coach, Ljubisic was already a member of federer's 10-game losing streak, and his comprehensive strength was below Federer, but Ljubisic's backhand ability was outstanding. After becoming Federer's coach, Ljubic focused on improving Federer's backhand ability, allowing Federer to win the Australian Open after returning from injury in 2017 and winning back-to-back titles in the North American Sunshine Doubles. Nadal admitted that Federer's backhand ability had improved greatly.
In addition to the "Lyubic + Federer" master-apprentice combination, there is also the "Moya + Nadal" master-apprentice combination. I wrote in Why Did Federer, Agassi, and others hire their own defeated generals as coaches? The article has analyzed this interesting phenomenon and summarized the following reasons: First, the other party is experienced and can help themselves make up for some technical shortcomings in a targeted manner. Second, the other side can bring new ideas and new tactics to themselves, and enrich their own technical and tactical systems in an all-round way. Third, the other party is at the end of his career or has retired, and is willing to accept employment. Fourth, the players and the new coach trust each other, have the same goal, and are willing to work tirelessly for this goal.
In the future, what kind of changes can the "stable man" Ferrer bring to the "often self-detonating, emotionally unstable" little Zverev, what kind of chemical reaction can the two produce, and can the combination of master and apprentice create a miracle like "Lyubic + Federer"?
A year ago in Madrid, Zverev Jr. was Ferrell's career finisher. A year later, in Roland Garros, Ferrer became the founder of Zverev's future. We wish this mentor-apprentice combination an extraordinary achievement and even more surprises. (Source: Tennis House Author: Yun Cirrus Yunshu)