MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 23, 2021

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the excitement about having the Miami Open back, how you feel? Are you fired up to play in the Miami Open right now?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, it's great. It's great we're having the big events back again. Obviously we feel like the tennis tour needs to go back to normal a little bit. It's great that we're back here.

I think Acapulco was a big step not only of course for me because I won the tournament, but in general in tennis we saw we could have a crowd back. We saw how to do it in a safely manner, as well. Testing everyone up front, you can only enter the stadium with a negative test, something like that. I think this is how sports will get their public back in the near future. Of course, not to maximum capacity, but that's how it should be done.

I'm looking forward to Miami. I'm looking forward to the upcoming weeks. I hope I can build on my recent form and continue to play even better.

Q. You talked about the rankings, how to get them accurate. Have you thought about what you would tweak or change? Is that something you want to discuss at this time?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, I know what I would change, but it doesn't really matter because I'm not the one deciding. The ATP or whoever is in charge, I don't think they really completely care about my opinion, to be honest. No offense to anyone, but I think there's other players that they might listen to more, they might listen to their opinions more because they are just greater champions and they deserve to be listened to more.

I don't know. I could ask you guys this back. Do you think I should be 7 in the world with how I recently played? You think I should have not moved one spot up maybe? Maybe one spot, two spots, three spots? There should be some movement otherwise the rankings are just the same kind of. It's very difficult to surpass someone.

Q. To what extent your recent victory is going to pump up your own challenges and ambition and confidence for the week to come, especially in this tournament?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I think my ambitions don't change. I know what I want. I know what I want to achieve. It's more about confidence. It's more about yourself and how well you think you're playing.

A tournament like that can give you quite a bit of confidence, can give you quite a bit of an up-push, an uplift for the upcoming weeks. I hope I can use that.

Q. Obviously you made a big jump last year with getting to the finals of the Open. Do you feel like you're in form where you were at that point in the year? Are you playing better now? What is it that you're looking to improve in order to fill the holes in your résumé?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Actually I think I'm playing better. I actually think I was actually playing better in Australia, as well. I just lost to Novak in a tough match, which obviously he's a great champion, so that can happen.

I can definitely see an improvement. I hope I can still continue this improvement because there's still a lot of things in my game that I want to get better at.

But in general, yeah, I mean, I think I'm playing pretty decent tennis right now. I hope I can continue to be competing for big titles, big events, in the upcoming weeks.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Grand Slams. Where do you think is your best chance of winning a Grand Slam? If you could choose one to win, which one would you like to win?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I would like to win them all (smiling).

I mean, my best chance would be one of the hard court or clay court, right? I think the French or US Open this year is kind of more realistic than Wimbledon for me probably in a way just on how comfortable I feel on the surfaces maybe.

Which one would I like to win the most? That would be probably Wimbledon, yeah. It's also how comfortable you feel.

I mean, I'm looking forward to the next weeks. I'm not trying to think of the Grand Slams right now because the Grand Slams are kind of still in the near future but they're still a little bit far away. We have four Masters 1000s events before that. I have big other events before that, as well. I'm trying to focus on that, trying to compete in those events, trying to do the job that I can.

Q. You achieved such a breakthrough last year with the US Open. What was the biggest thing you walked away with from that experience? You came so close. Admirable how well you performed there. Have you made any adjustments since that experience to your training or mental focus?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: That loss made me in a way even hungrier. I was two points away from winning my first Grand Slam title at the US Open, but I didn't in the end of the day. You have to look at those things, as well.

In a way this year I feel like I'm more motivated than ever to do well. I'm trying to improve every single aspect of the game to give myself the best chance that I can have. I feel like I'm building towards that. I feel like I'm taking the right steps towards that. We'll see how the rest of the year goes.

Q. Talk a little bit about the Laver Cup. You seemed to have a great experience, you're around some incredible players. What is that like to be a part of that?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I won some big matches I think for the team there. Look, it's a great event. I've said it a lot of times. This is one of the most fun events that you can have in sports.

But I think we're far away from playing the Laver Cup right now. I don't know if we'll play it this year, as well. I was supposed to be on the team last year. I'm pretty sure if it happens I'll be in the team this year, as well.

We need to kind of look at everything, what the Laver Cup makes, as well as the atmosphere, and the people. I think playing the Laver Cup without a crowd is not the same, will not give the same atmosphere, not give the same emotions.

I think the Laver Cup is the event where the crowd will be missed the most. I don't know if it will happen or not.

Q. No tennis player is immune to nerves or getting tight in the big moments. How do you feel you handled the nerves against Tsitsipas in the end? How do you feel like this time around was?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, as you said, nobody is immune to nerves. Of course, you try to deal with it in the best way you can. You try to play your game, you try to focus on the things that you can have stability in kind of going hands on.

Nerves happen. That is normal. That is also the fun part of our sport. I think we're not robots. We're human beings. That is normal. Of course, like every other player, I'm trying to deal with it.

I think I did a great job of after losing the serve going back at him at 5-All almost getting the break then. Then, even not getting the break, being set points down 6-5, winning the tiebreak after that.

You can look at it in two ways. Of course, I lost my serve at 5-4 having match points. I look at it differently. I came back, won the tiebreak, didn't go to a third set. There's always two sides to it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.