ATP CUP

February 5, 2021

Mischa Zverev

Alexander Zverev

Jan-Lennard Struff

Andreas Mies

Kevin Krawietz

Team Germany

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How proud are you of your team after the brilliant win against the defending champions?

MISCHA ZVEREV: Very proud, especially all the matches were very tight and close, and the third set doubles was incredible because they really performed -- they were brave. They performed incredibly well, so yeah, super excited.

Q. Mischa, can you explain how the decision was reached to pick Struffy and Sascha in the doubles as opposed to your specialist?

MISCHA ZVEREV: I think Andy and Kevin, they're a very strong team, and if Andy is not 100 percent, that's like a big part of the team is missing. And then for Kevin and someone else to team up, I feel like they would have needed maybe some time, some more time to get used to each other. And we also thought since Novak is returning incredibly well, we need someone who will just, like, outserve them, like, who can serve bombs like 200 something kilometers an hour and especially Sascha and Jan they played very well in singles and we thought, let's try to not outsmart him, let's try to overpower him, and that's why we put in the big guys.

Q. Sascha, it's been quite a day for you, obviously a really tight loss with Novak, and coming up strong in the doubles. Was it a unique feeling to win as a team in the end?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: For sure. This competition is definitely different. We need two wins. That's all that matters. Of course I wish that I could have done it for me and for the boys, as well, in the singles. It didn't quite go my way. It was still, I think, a pretty good match. But yeah, at the end of the day we're in the semifinals, we won the doubles, and we're playing Russia tomorrow, and that's all that matters.

Q. You came under pressure a couple times but you pulled it out nicely in the match points there. How do you feel it's going toe moment?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I think I'm serving quite well the last two matches. In the first match didn't get broken once. Today until the last few games in the third set, I got broken once the whole match. It's definitely something that I'm still working on, but yeah, it's going well, especially for how early we are in the season.

Q. Sascha, after losing the match to Novak, did you get into the locker room and really want to get out there to get another chance?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I was quite frustrated actually that I lost the singles because I thought I had the chances. I could have done better. Yeah, as I said, I thought it was a really good match, as I said, especially for how early it is in the season. Once I got to the locker room, for me in my mind, it's obviously the captain's decision and everyone else's decision, as well, but if they needed me on the doubles court, I was ready to play.

Q. Is it satisfying when you have such a tight loss, to be able to get back out there and make up for it?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, this competition is different. We needed two wins, and that's all that matters.

Q. Sascha, after you won you had quite the reaction. I know it's only the semis, but how much would it mean to you to win the ATP Cup?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, everything. Especially with the group of guys that we have here, we're all quite close friends. I think that's what we're here for. We want to do well. We want to win. We're in the semifinals now. We've got probably the toughest team that is left in the draw ahead of us with Russia, with two top-10 singles guys.

We've got to perform at our best to give ourselves the chance tomorrow, and, you know, who knows how it will go.

Q. Mischa, is there a way to describe, obviously you're in the team zone so you have the guys going nuts around you, you're going nuts. It's not a full stadium but you have fans in the stands going nuts. Can you just describe the atmosphere and what it was like?

MISCHA ZVEREV: I don't think we were going nuts. I mean, wait until you see us later on hopefully. It's obviously very emotional because you're there in a different role. You're there with a different crew. On the court normally you don't have that many people on court, and like I said, the atmosphere is just incredible because we're somewhat the same age, even though my brother is a few years younger, but whatever. But we're the same age, and we're friends on and off the court. So we can go to dinner, we have the same topics to talk about, we go to different cart games. You feel really close to the crew and that just makes it so much nicer, and then there's constant eye contact and I feel like I'm not playing but I'm still part of the game, so it's definitely an incredible feeling.