Alexander Zverev worked with Ivan Lendl as his coach in the past, and it's clear that he was not happy with the former ATP World No. 1's practices.
Zverev worked with Lendl for less than a year. The two started working together in August 2018 and split already in July 2019. The official reason seemed to be insufficient results and some personal differences.
It seems that those personal differences now come to light, as the 27-year-old German player wasn't holding back when talking about Lendl recently.
It's clear that Zverev wasn't happy with how Lendl approached their partnership. Speaking to Tennis Magazin, the two-time Grand Slam finalist revealed that his former coach was more concerned with other things than his tennis.
According to Zverev's words, during their practice sessions, Lendl talked about his gold and also spent time teaching his new dog how to go to the toilet.
Obviously, that was not something that Zverev expected from an eight-time Grand Slam champion, who he brought to his team to improve his game and rise up the ranks.
"He got a new dog and was showing him how to go to the toilet. That was really his main topic. And golf."
This wasn't the first time that Zverev spoke about Lendl and his practices during training sessions, as the German player had similar remarks about the former World No. 1 in 2019.
Back then, when talking to the media in Hamburg, Zverev also mentioned Lendl's love for golf as one of the main issues in their partnership, as he was not happy about how the former American player approached their partnership.
"We talked about it and I told him to concentrate on tennis more. Sometimes we go to the tennis court, the training is two hours long, and for half-an-hour he stands with his back to me talking about the way he played golf the morning before."
Luckily for Zverev, this period is already way past him, even though he still remembers it vividly. Working with his father, Alexander Zverev Sr., as a coach seems to be the best solution for him, as he's enjoying some of his best tennis on the courts. Still, he's open to hiring a new coach.
"Yes, but the right person has to be there. I'm not going to just take anyone just because I or others think it's right. I've done it, I've tried to work with many people. But I found that only one person really helped me a lot."
By saying, "one person helped him a lot," Zverev didn't mean his father. In fact, he was talking about his former coach and current Spanish Davis Cup team captain, David Ferrer.
"No, apart from my father. David Ferrer really helped me. Working with anyone else was not a real success."
Maybe Zverev's lack of success with multiple coaches is a reason why he currently prefers to work with his father, even though he mentioned that he would be open to working with Boris Becker, for example.