'We need charisma' - Alex Corretja calls for Alexander Zverev and other rising stars to express themselves on court

ByEurosport

Published 26/08/2021 at 08:57 GMT

"We’ve had in the past [Bjorn] Borg, [John] McEnroe, then we had [Ivan] Lendl, [Mats] Wilander, then [Pete] Sampras and [Andre] Agassi then we wondered what would happen but some others come,” Corretja said. “I’m not worried about the future of tennis, I’m just nostalgic that we are losing or about to lose some of the most relevant players in history.

Alex Corretja feels the next generation of tennis stars need to win fans by showing their true feelings on court.

Tennis fans have been spoiled in the era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. That era is drawing to a close, with Federer and Nadal increasingly plagued by injuries.

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Djokovic is still going strong, and can win a calendar Grand Slam at the US Open, but there is a changing of the guard looming.

The men’s game looks in good hands with the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas rising fast.

Corretja believes the rising stars have the games to excite tennis fans, but the Eurosport expert feels an extra bit of magic needs to be added into the mix.

"We’ve had in the past [Bjorn] Borg, [John] McEnroe, then we had [Ivan] Lendl, [Mats] Wilander, then [Pete] Sampras and [Andre] Agassi then we wondered what would happen but some others come,” Corretja said.

“I’m not worried about the future of tennis, I’m just nostalgic that we are losing or about to lose some of the most relevant players in history.

We need charisma and we need to let the player have charisma. We need to let them show their emotions, somehow controlling them but not making them feel like they are robots.

Zverev is arguably the form player heading into Flushing Meadows, as he backed up his gold medal at Tokyo 2020 with victory in the Western & Southern Open.

Zverev lifts his fifth ATP Masters title after beating Rublev in Cincinnati final

Corretja believes the German will become a multiple major champion, but is not sure the breakthrough will come at this year’s US Open.

"I think both Alex and Daniil Medvedev will be the toughest guys to beat for Novak Djokovic, for sure,” Corretja said. “I think Sascha is now convinced that he can win the big titles. Before, I think he felt he was a very good player, but I think he still felt there was something missing. Now he has got more experience, he is more relaxed with himself, he is more calm. He is controlling his emotions more.

He knows his serve is now a big weapon, his forehand is way better now and he has now found a good balance between being aggressive and defensive and not just being passive.

“I think he is ready to win a Slam, last year he was very close but now I see that he thinks he is convinced he can do it.

“Winning a gold gave him so much confidence but winning in Cincinnati proved that he is more mature right now. I’m not sure he will win in New York, but I really believe he won’t just win one major, he will win many more.”

The US Open gets underway in New York on August 30.

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