"Yes he's very confident and quite cocky as a character, but you kind of need to be that if you're going to go to the top of the game"
Thursday 19 April 2018 20:51, UK
Annabel Croft feels Germany's rising star Alexander Zverev still has youth on his side as well as all the major ingredients to rise to the very top of the game.
Zverev overcame a mid-match blip to beat fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 4-6 6-4 at the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday.
The 20-year-old, who won two Masters titles last season, became frustrated in the second set and displayed a lot of anger which did not sit well with Croft and fellow pundit Henri Leconte.
"Well it was a very, very angry match I think from him all the way through, and I have to say, spitting the way that he did is pretty disgusting and shouldn't be allowed," said Sky Sports analyst Croft. "I'm sure he will either get fined or there will be some repercussion for that, because he shouldn't have done it.
"I really like him, I've always admired him. Yes he's very confident and quite cocky as a character, but you kind of need to be that if you're going to go to the top of the game.
"He's still so young, he's going to be 21 tomorrow, but it feels like he's had such a great rise up the rankings so quickly, things aren't quite panning out on the trajectory that he expected. It's been quite tricky and now we are seeing more anger, aren't we?
"He's kind of changed the way he plays a little bit. When he first came on the tour we were all admiring the aggressive game-style; nothing to lose, coming to the net a lot more, but actually when you watch him these days, he's a very different tennis player to the one that first emerged on the tour."
After Greg Rusedski said Ivan Lendl would be a 'masterstroke' coaching appointment for Zverev, former world No 5 and French Open finalist Leconte agreed with Rusedski, saying the Czech coach would make Zverev "work really hard".
He has potential. The best thing for him is to go to the Masters series and then go to the Grand Slams and maybe keep going, but he's young.
Leconte said: "Ivan Lendl - I have to tell you I have been practising with him before the French Open for like two weeks. When you train with Ivan Lendl, he knows how to train, he knows how to push you to a certain limit. He knows also all about the confidence that he needs, because that's Alexander, it's a mind thing just to believe in yourself and what you can produce on the court and be the best player you can be. Ivan Lendl is going to make him work really hard.
"We always say if you play well at the Monte Carlo tournament, you always have a good chance to play well at the French Open. I know that Ivan was playing here on clay and a little bit like Rafael Nadal; playing well, winning the French Open and it was something big. You need to touch it - you need to believe it."
The Frenchman added: "He has potential. The best thing for him is to go to the Masters series and then go to the Grand Slams and maybe keep going, but he's young."
Coverage of the ATP Monte Carlo Rolex Masters continues on Friday with all four quarter-finals live from 10am on Sky Sports Arena.
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