US OPEN

September 11, 2020

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/P. Carreno Busta

3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Last time your compatriot won here was Becker in 1989 when the Berlin Wall still stood. Are you touched by the wind of time to be able to write history and your own legacy on Sunday?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, it says that Boris won. That's one small fact. That I still need to achieve. Sunday is going to be extremely difficult no matter who I play of those guys.

But I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, I'm in the final of a Grand Slam. The two best players in the world are going to be playing on court.

Q. Finally you've made that step, your first major final. What are your thoughts on that now?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, it's great. Obviously happy to be in a final. But as I said in the previous question, there's still one more step to go. For me, I think it's going to be extremely difficult. Both of those guys deserve to be in the final. That's it.

I mean, if I play Dominic, we played an epic in Australia. If I play Daniil, we had some great matches as well. No matter who it's going to be, it's going to be a new Grand Slam champion, but it's going to be also a very difficult match I think.

Q. Can you help us understand how you played the first two sets the way you did, then how you turned things around?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I looked at the scoreboard after two sets. I thought to myself, Look, I'm playing a Grand Slam semifinal, I'm down 6-3, 6-2 in a match where on paper I'm supposed to be the favorite.

I needed to play better, start something new. I thought, Okay, I'm going to go set by set, we'll see how far I can get. It turned out well in the end.

Obviously it was very close. Pablo deserved to be in the final just as much as I did. Yeah, a few points here or there on either side of the match.

Q. What were your thoughts after losing the second set? What was in your mind? How did you recover from that?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, as I just said, I looked at the scoreboard, I'm down two sets to love in a Grand Slam semifinal. I knew I had to start playing better, to give myself a chance.

I wanted to give myself, you know, set by set just the opportunity to stay in the match. That's what I did.

In the end, it turned out well for me.

Q. I can see behind the mask that you're smiling.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Because you're asking me the question, I always have to smile (laughter).

Q. Two years ago at Roland Garros you lost to Verdasco. Rafael Nadal said I'm sure in two years Sascha will win a slam. I'd like to know if now you're going to win the bet?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: He said I'm going to do well in a slam. He didn't say I'd win.

Look, I'm in the final. After tonight's match between Dominic and Daniil, there's going to be two players left in the tournament. One of them is going to be holding up that trophy. I have a chance. Of course, so do the other guys. As I said, it's going to be interesting to see how everybody will come out in that final and play.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I'm just excited about it.

Q. What did you do technically and tactically? You said to yourself you have to play better. What did you do as opposed to what did Pablo do to turn this match around?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, for me, I started taking the ball much earlier. I started taking the ball more on the rise. I started giving myself the chance to be the one that is aggressive.

I think in the first few sets, Pablo was the one dictating much more than I did. This is how the match slowly turned around. Even though for my size, I think I move okay, quite well. I'm still somebody that needs to be the aggressive one. This is what I started doing in the third set.

Yeah, the match slowly turned itself around.

Q. What would you say pleased you the most besides winning the match? Watching it, you stayed so composed and calm, even down two sets to love. If it was to you answering, what would you say pleased you the most?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I think mentally. I mean, mentally I stayed in it. Even though I was down two sets to love, I stayed in it. I gave myself the best chance I could.

I think a lot of players would have gone away. I knew, look, it's a Grand Slam semifinal. There's no easy matches anymore. Sometimes you have to big deep.

Today I dug deep, dug very deep. At the end of the day I'm sitting here as the winner of that match, which could have been very different.

Q. When we ask a player who would he prefer to play the next match, he never gives you an answer. They always say, The winner is the best, one or the other is the same. You may not tell me who would you like to play. I would like to know if in your head there is one that you would like to play. Don't tell me the name, but there is one?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: There is one that I would prefer to play, yes (smiling).

Q. For me it's enough.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah (laughter).