Mischa Zverev questions how Nadal will handle tennis and family - "It's not easy to combine both"

| by Balasz Virag

Long-time father Mischa Zverev knows how tricky it is to combine tennis and family in light of Nadal becoming a father recently.

For the first time in his career, Rafael Nadal recently became a parent, joining a long list of his peers who have already experienced it. Murray, Djokovic, and his closest friend Roger Federer have all been fathers for a considerable amount of time.

"You have to think about how you go about it, how selfish – even if that sounds stupid – you want to be. Tennis or family? It's not easy to combine both. For me, family always came first" - explained Mischa Zverev in a recent interview with Eurosport Germany.

Zverev knows how tricky it can be to balance family life and tennis career and he had a very good chance to observe his younger brother handle that recently as well:

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"Life will change enormously - for the woman, but also for the father. You have to train for two or three hours every morning, after which it's time for regeneration or fitness" explained Zverev adding:

"Usually you warm up for half an hour, then you train for two hours, followed by an hour of regeneration. I know that from me: If you have a child, you also say, 'I'll regenerate tomorrow and I need to warm up not me today.' So three and a half hours of training in the morning becomes two or one and a half."

Cracking a joke to finish off Zverev noted it's not fun getting up late: "You have to get up at night and help, that's not ideal before a match. It may be different with Rafa."

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