Alexander Zverev — tennis with roots in the USSR
Alexander Zverev, known in his family by the Russian diminutive Sascha, was born in Hamburg on 20 April 1997, the younger son of two Soviet tennis players. His connection to the Soviet Union runs through both parents.
His father, Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev, was born in Sochi on 22 January 1960 and became one of the leading Soviet players of the 1980s, a three-time Soviet singles champion who played Davis Cup for the USSR and reached No. 175 in the world in 1985. His mother, Irina, born in 1967 and also from Sochi, was ranked fourth among Soviet women. Both moved from Sochi to Moscow to train at the army club CSKA. The Soviet sports authorities often limited their players' foreign competition, which held back both their international careers. Their elder son, Mikhail, known as Mischa, was born in Moscow in 1987.
In 1990 Irina played a tournament in Germany with her husband as her coach, and the couple were offered coaching jobs at the Uhlenhorster club in Hamburg. After first declining, they accepted the following year and emigrated in 1991, by most accounts, with Mischa, who also became a professional player. Alexander was born in Hamburg six years later. His mother was his first coach; his father later took over and has remained his principal coach.
He won his first two ATP titles as a teenager. In 2018 he won the ATP Finals in London, beating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and won them again in Turin in 2021. At the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, he won the singles gold medal. In June 2022 he reached No. 2 in the world. For years, however, a major title eluded him: he lost the US Open final of 2020 to Dominic Thiem from two sets up, the French Open final of 2024 to Carlos Alcaraz and the Australian Open final of 2025 to Jannik Sinner.
On 7 June 2026, in his fourth major final, he won the French Open, beating Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 on Court Philippe-Chatrier. He became the first German man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Boris Becker, and joined Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanišević and Thiem among the players who won their first major at the fourth attempt. The day before, the women's title had gone to Mirra Andreeva of Russia.
"His parents, Soviet tennis players from Sochi who trained at CSKA Moscow, accepted coaching posts at the Uhlenhorster club in Hamburg and emigrated with their son Mischa in 1991 (one source gives 1990). Alexander was born in Hamburg in 1997."
Migration storyTracing the roots — Sochi (Russia) — both parents, born and trained in the USSR (CSKA Moscow)
Both parents were Soviet tennis players from Sochi: his father, Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev, born in 1960, was a Soviet champion and Davis Cup player; his mother, Irina, was ranked fourth among Soviet women. They emigrated to Hamburg in 1991 with their elder son Mischa, born in Moscow in 1987.
Sochi (Russia) — both parents, born and trained in the USSR (CSKA Moscow). At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.