Kriti Mehrotra
As a Martin Webb-directed documentary series we can only describe as equal parts entertaining and intriguing owing to its focus on tennis alone, Netflix’s ‘Break Point’ is genuinely unlike any other. That’s because it gives us a transparent look into the lives of top athletes as they travel across the globe for all major tournaments, enabling us to get an insight into their core support system too. Amongst them for current world #6 ranked Alexander “Sascha” Zverev is actually his long-term girlfriend, Sophia Thomalla.
Sascha Zverev and Sophia Thomalla’s Journey
It was reportedly back in 2020 when Sascha first came across fellow German native Sophia thanks to a mutual friend, just for them to soon realize they had a natural spark and fall head over heels. The truth is there is an 8-year age gap between this duo, with the latter being older, yet neither seems to mind it one bit because they align in all areas that really matter; values, goals, plus family. In fact, they know they’re not conventional because while the athlete has a young daughter from a previous relationship, his model girlfriend used to be married to Norwegian singer Andy LaPlegua.
“All the men I had something with broke up with me because in the end, they couldn’t stand [my extreme independence],” Sophia once said before adding, “many men don’t like that in the long run.” However, Sascha is apparently not at all this way; he understands they’re two whole individuals who mutually decided to get into a romantic involvement rather than them completing one another. Though he does prefer when she takes time out of her schedule to travel with him since it ostensibly offers him an additional sense of purpose — like any player, he likes impressing his partner.
“I think for tennis players it is always very important who you have next to you,” Sascha told a German magazine in late 2021. “Sophia is someone who gives me peace and security. I play extremely well with her behind me and I hope that will continue to be the case … and maybe even better. I haven’t achieved all of my goals yet.” The fact he got severely injured the following year just proved this point of needing a significant support system because his girlfriend was the primary individual to help him along the way — he couldn’t walk, let alone play, yet she didn’t waiver from him one bit.
Sophia hence practically held things down for both herself and Sascha throughout the majority of the 2022-2023 season, which is something he will admittedly forever be grateful for. This, combined with their drastically different professions, did drive the former to state in ‘Zverev: Der Unvollendete’ that they “don’t have a simple life together. Alex, with the incredible amount of sports he has and the continuity he has to go through again and again — and my life is anything but continuous. It’s not 24/7 red roses now.” Nevertheless, she continued, he’s still the one to make her happier than ever since he’s always there for her: “I can talk to him about anything, and he also has an ear for it.”
Sascha and Sophia Are Still in Love
With the level of care, kindness, love, respect, as well as understanding German natives Sascha and Sophia have for one another despite their differences, they are, of course, still blissfully together. If you actually want proof of the same, you have to look no further than their respective social media platforms, where neither completely shies away from showing off their continued relationship. The former’s profile does focus more upon his career as a pro athlete, but the latter’s feed is filled with cozy images of them together alongside cheesy captions that only sing his praises, as seen below.
“Happy birthday to the multitalented physio, panda mom, and dog sitter 🎂🥳💃🏼,” Sascha had penned for Sophia’s 33rd birthday in 2023. “Lack of career options was never a problem, but I thought people should know the most important ones 😂😂❤️❤️.” On the other hand, back in 2022, she’d wished him by writing, “Happiness, success, love — he deserves ALL of it! Happy birthday, my love ❤️.” Then, in 2023, she appreciated his philanthropy work by expressing, “@alexzverev123, you are beautiful inside and out. What you do for children with diabetes is incredible. I couldn’t be prouder of you and your @alexanderzverevfoundation 😊.”
