AAP Tennis

Zverev hits with NBA great Nowitzki

By AAP Newswire

Jan 12, 2023

Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev shared a hit with basketball great Dirk Nowitzki at Melbourne Park ahead of the Australian Open.

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The former NBA champion with the Dallas Mavericks in in Australia with his family.

Fellow German Zverev, who is back in action after a long-term ankle injury, has been drawn to start the first grand slam of the year against Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas.

Nowitzki played tennis in his youth before basketball.

"I started when I was five and liked the competition. I was ranked sixth or seventh in Bavaria," he once told broadcasters Tennis Channel.

Later, however, the 213cm Nowitzki decided to pursue a basketball career.

"I was a little bored travelling to tournaments on weekends. I was also much taller than the others and got teased. I then stopped playing tennis when I was 15," he explained.

Nowitzki retired from basketball in 2019, but has already said that he's still a "tennis freak" and had a court built on his property for himself and his children.