Since he began playing tennis at a very young age, he has said, "One day, when I was, I think, one year and five months old, I just picked up a little racket and I was starting to push the ball all over our apartment, and since then, they took me out on the court.

"[10] While his mother had a more relaxed teaching style, his father "had a very Soviet way of doing physical training sessions" that involved doing timed drills for fixed numbers of repetitions.

He would pick up a lower level Grade 5 title at the Oman International Junior 2 a few weeks later, which led him to begin competing in higher-level events shortly before his 15th birthday.

[19] Zverev came close to reaching another major boys' singles final at the 2013 Junior US Open, but was defeated by the eventual champion Borna Ćorić in the semifinals.

[24] Zverev continued to focus on the juniors in 2013 and did not reach another pro-level final that year,[25] but he did make his main draw debut on the ATP Tour in July, losing to Roberto Bautista Agut at his hometown tournament, the International German Open.

[24] After winning the boys' singles title at the 2014 Australian Open, Zverev shifted his focus to his professional career, only playing in pro events the rest of the year.

[32] During the clay-court season, Zverev partnered with his brother Mischa to reach his first career ATP final in doubles at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships.

[35] Zverev backed up this performance in his Grand Slam tournament main draw debut, defeating Teymuraz Gabashvili in a tight match that lasted until 9–7 in the fifth and final set.

"[46] Back in Europe, Zverev was able to recover as he reached his first ATP singles final at the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, finishing runner-up to No.

[68] At Wimbledon, he achieved his best result at a major event to date, ultimately losing in the fourth round to the previous year's runner-up Milos Raonic in a tight five-set match.

[134] In the ATP Finals, Zverev was eliminated in the group stage after a three-set win over Diego Schwartzman, and straight-set losses to Djokovic and the eventual champion Medvedev.

[135] Zverev began his season in February with the ATP Cup, where he represented Germany with Jan-Lennard Struff, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies to reach the semi-finals.

[147] Following the Olympics, Zverev reached his second Masters 1000 final of the year at the 2021 Western & Southern Open after defeating Lloyd Harris, Guido Pella, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas after a close three-set battle in the semifinal.

[citation needed] In September, he was due to return for the Davis Cup play but suffered a new injury, a bone edema, and withdrew from competition for the rest of the season.

[212] Zverev began his grass season by withdrawing from the BOSS Open in Stuttgart due to a thigh injury that he picked up during his semifinal match at Roland Garros.

[213][214] Zverev then defeated Dominic Thiem, Denis Shapovalov, and Nicolas Jarry in Halle to reach the semifinals where he lost to eventual champion Alexander Bublik.

[230] Seeded sixth in Melbourne, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time since 2021, defeating Dominik Koepfer, Lukas Klein for his 400th career win,[231] Alex Michelsen, and Cameron Norrie, with two matches requiring deciding set tiebreakers.

[232] He then achieved his first-ever win against a top-5 player at a Grand Slam, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in four sets in the quarterfinals, to make his first Australian Open semifinal appearance since 2020.

[234] Seeded sixth at the BNP Paribas Open, Zverev reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2021, defeating Christopher O'Connell, Tallon Griekspoor, and Alex de Minaur[235] before losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

[236][237] Seeded fourth at the Miami Open, Zverev reached the semifinals, defeating Félix Auger-Aliassime, Christopher Eubanks, Karen Khachanov, and Fábián Marozsán[238][239] before losing to Grigor Dimitrov.

[246][247] Seeded third in Rome, Zverev won his sixth Masters title, defeating Aleksandar Vukic, Nuno Borges, Taylor Fritz, Alejandro Tabilo, and Nicolás Jarry in the final.

[248][249] Zverev reached his fourth consecutive French Open semifinal with wins over Rafael Nadal, David Goffin, Tallon Griekspoor, Holger Rune, and Alex de Minaur.

[267] At the 2024 Rolex Paris Masters, Zverev defeated Tallon Griekspoor, Arthur Fils, and Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up a semifinal clash with former champion Holger Rune.

[280] Zverev won his first Davis Cup tie in 2018, winning both of his singles matches against Alex de Minaur and Kyrgios to lead Germany to a 3–1 victory over Australia.

However, Spain ultimately won the tie on the final day after Zverev was unable to defeat Nadal and Kohlschreiber lost a tight five-set match to Ferrer.

[282] In 2019, the format of the Davis Cup was changed to have eighteen countries competing in the finals over a single week in November, all but six of which were decided through a qualifying round in February.

In the group stage, where Germany met Australia, Canada and Greece, Zverev lost all three matches to Alex de Minaur, Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively.

1, Iga Swiatek, Zverev made a critical comeback win against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, saving two championship points in the process and levelled the tie 1–1.

[318] Although Zverev does not employ this technique as often as his brother, he has shown it can be effective in big matches such as the Madrid Masters final against Dominic Thiem, a player who rarely comes to the net.

However, one week later, Zverev was captured on video at a party in Monaco,[326] prompting criticism from fellow tennis players Nick Kyrgios and Katie Boulter.