From Saddlebrook to Flushing Meadows: Alexander Zverev Wins the US Open

Alexander Zverev is a US Open champion. And Florida played a meaningful role in the journey to New York.

The 29-year-old German defeated American Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 Sunday at Flushing Meadows, capturing his second Grand Slam title just three months after breaking through at Roland Garros.

Long before Paris and New York, however, there was Saddlebrook.

Zverev first came to the famed tennis academy in Wesley Chapel, outside Tampa, as a child while older brother Mischa was pursuing his own professional career.

“We first came to Saddlebrook when [my brother] Misha was 16 years old and I was six years old,” Zverev recalled in a Tennis Channel interview.

Photo credit: Chris Krusberg/USTA

It became much more than a short-term training stop. Roland-Garros reported that Zverev returned to Saddlebrook every winter beginning around age seven, while Tennis.com later described the young Sascha as a “tween tagalong” accompanying Mischa around the academy.

By his own account, Florida became something close to a second tennis home.

“I did used to live in Saddlebrook,” Zverev said at the 2024 Miami Open, “when I was a junior.”

During the 2020 tour shutdown, he trained there with his family and team, and at the 2021 Laver Cup he again referenced his Florida years. “I spent a lot of time in Florida in the Saddlebrook Academy,” he said.

Photo credit: Garrett Ellwood/USTA

Zverev was born in Hamburg, represents Germany and built his game inside one of tennis’ great sporting families. But some important chapters were written in Wesley Chapel, Florida where a little kid following his older brother eventually grew into one of the best players in the world.

Now his résumé includes two Grand Slam wins: Roland Garros and the US Open.

Training in Florida was an important part of the journey.

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By Florida Tennis Staff. Sources: Reuters, AP, Roland-Garros, Tennis.com, Tennis Channel, Miami Open, Laver Cup, Florida Tennis. Photo credit (top): Pete Staples/USTA.

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