Prodigies in any sport have an unmistakable gunslinger’s swagger. They stand tall, talk with dead-eye certainty and shoot straight. If Alexander Zverev were never to make it as a tennis player he could look back at his highlights reel and see a lot of Billy the Kid in his demeanour.
“Where you from, buddy?” Zverev asked Jonathan Pinfield, the journalist who brought levity and plain-language insight to press conferences at Roland Garros this year. It was not a threat, even if the 21-year-old sounded young-dude smart-arse. As the tall, blond German worked his way through the draw in a succession of tough five-setters before bailing out, exhausted, in the quarter-finals, where Dominic Thiem had his number in three sets, he revealed a lighter side, and player and journalist settled down to some unusual bonding.
Written by Kevin Mitchell
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jun/29/alexander-zverev-champions-impatience-wimbledon-2018 under the title “Alexander Zverev has a champion’s impatience as Wimbledon looms”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
