19 facts you need to know about Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev was named the ATP  Star of Tomorrow in 2015, and made good on the expectations by rising more than 50 spots this year to No. 24 after winning his first-ever ATP title in St. Petersburg. Here are 19 facts about the 19-year-old star on the rise.

1

Zverev was born on April 20, 1997 in Hamburg, Germany.

2

He started playing tennis at the age of five.

3

He's nicknamed Sacha or Sascha, a common Russian nickname for Alexander.

4

Both of his parents are tennis coaches (his father Alexander Sr. is his coach).

5

His older brother is Top-200 player Mischa Zverev (who upset Fabio Fognini in Shenzhen this week).

6

He's the youngest member of the Top 50.

7

He stands at 6'6" and plays right-handed, with a two-handed backhand.

8

He won the 2014 Australian Open boys’ title...

9

...which helped him become the No. 1 junior.

10

He achieved his best Grand Slam result at this year's French Open (reaching the third round), and repeated the feat again at Wimbledon.

11

This season, he recorded Top-10 wins over Roger Federer in Halle, and Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka in St. Petersburg.

12

Back in 2014, he defeated Mikhail Youhzny in Hamburg for his first-ever Top-20 victory.

13

The youngster speaks German, English and Russian.

14

He has hit 355 aces in 2016, more than Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (349) and Novak Djokovic (239).

14

15

His tennis idol is Federer.

16

He's close friends with fellow ATP young star Nick Kyrgios.

17

Despite Kyrgios being a huge Boston Celtics fan, Zverev supports the Miami Heat.

18

Sascha’s puppy, Lovik, gets his own tournament credentials.

19

St. Petersburg finalist Wawrinka helped him celebrate his first title.