How Zverev's partnership with Lendl might play out

Alexander Zverev is the talk of the town after adding Ivan Lendl to his team just in time for the US Open.

The world No. 4 is the first member of the ATP NextGen to hire a supercoach. Technically, he’s had one before in former French Open champ Juan Carlos Ferrero, but the two publicly fell-out in February.

Here are five signs that will tell us if the Zverv-Lendl partnership is a good fit.

1

More forehand aggression

Zverev’s backhand is world class as one of the best shots on the tour. Under pressure, though, he can get passive on his forehand. Murray had a similar problem, and we all saw how that turned out under Lendl’s tutelage.

"There’s a lot of tactical work, a lot of mental work as well to show me what it take to compete for Grand Slams," Zverev said on Friday about what has changed with Lendl.

The US Open may be too soon to see a marked shift in approach already but look for Zverev to pick his spots and go bigger and flatter with that shot in the weeks and months to come.

2

Getting more efficient

The quarterfinals of this year’s French Open is Zverev’s best Slam finish, but he won’t want to repeat how he got there. He escaped three consecutive five-set matches in which he was at least a set down before his hamstring cried uncle in the quarters. Lendl should not only help Zverev beat the players he’s supposed to beat—he should help him do it faster.

3

Keeping his emotions in check

Murray’s colorful self-flagellation is legendary, but when Lendl was in his box, he was noticeably more restrained in his outcries, and it saved him the energy he needed to win three Slams and Olympic gold. Zverev doesn’t suffer the same extremes of negative emotion Murray did—if anything, Zverev is more prone to frequent outbursts of “come on!” Nonetheless, Lendl’s expressionless wall of silence during matches should seem him focus more on finishing off opponents, and less on expending energy.

4

Beating the best in best-of-five sets

If he wants to win his first Slam, it’s hard to imagine Zverev doing so without going through at least one of the Big Four. His two ATP Masters 1000 titles came at Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic’s expense, but everyone knows beating them in a best-of-five match is a different animal altogether. And best-of-five hasn’t been Zverev’s strong suit to date.

5

Winning his first Grand Slam

Obviously, the main goal in working with Lendl is improving Zverev’s Grand Slam resume.

"The reason I’m with him is to compete and win the biggest tournaments in the world and that’s the only reason he would join a team as well," Zverev said.

The German is the only active player, outside of the Big Four, with multiple ATP Masters 1000-level titles, but his Grand Slam performance has been strangely underwhelming.

Zverev begins his bid for the US Open against lucky loser Peter Polansky.

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