Mischa Zverev emerges from brother's shadow

Oftentimes, in the case of siblings on tour, the younger brother is the one waiting in the wings, seeking his moment to shine out from his older brother's shadow. In the case of Mischa Zverev, he's ten years older than his Top 10 superstar brother Alexander, and it's Alexander, or "Sasha", that's been more highly touted.

This week at the US Open, it's the older Zverev that's gone farther, reaching the fourth round by ousting John Isner on Saturday night. It begs the question, how much do we really know about the "other" Zverev?

1

Different Strokes

While Alexander Zverev plays a 21st century style of baseline tennis, his older brother likes to charge the net. He serves and volleys, and chips and charges, to his heart's content. Mischa Zverev stands at a respectable 6'3" while his brother towers over most players at 6'6".

2

First Final

Despite dealing with a fractured wrist, the elder Zverev reached a career-high ranking of No. 45 in 2009 and made his first ATP final back in 2010. As a qualifier he lost to Gilles Simon in the final.

3

Injury Setbacks

Injuries continued to plague him including two fractured ribs, a herniated disc and a tear in his patella tendon. Rock bottom hit in 2014. His ranking plummeted to the 1,000s and he focused on helping his younger brother improve.

4

The Big Break

Motivated by Alexander, Mischa returned to the grind. In 2016, he got his big break in Shanghai when he ousted Nick Kyrgios (who got a lot of flack for allegedly tanking). Mischa then reached the quarterfinals, falling to Novak Djokovic in three sets. Showing that he was no fluke, the 30-year-old beat Stan Wawrinka the following week in Basel.

5

Grand Slam Glory

Mischa Zverev finally got a taste of Grand Slam success with a quarterfinal run in Australia this year. The tear included an upset over world No. 1 Andy Murray.

6

Rapidly Rising

This season, he also reached his second career final in Geneva, and achieved a high of No. 25.

While his much younger and much more famous brother lost in the second round in New York, Mischa Zverev will take on Sam Querrey for a spot in the quarterfinals on Sunday night.