US OPEN

September 8, 2021

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/L. Harris

7-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Your thoughts on the win.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, happy to be in the semis. I think the match was a little bit strange. I think the first set he played very well, didn't give me a lot of chance on his serve. Yeah, I mean, after that I started to play much better.

I think the turning point was the first set, I think that I won it, and it did kind of go my way after that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. No stranger to playing Novak on big stages. How in the past have you prepared for playing him and how it's different than preparing to face any other player, if it is?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, against him you prepare that you have to play the best match that you can. You have to be perfect, otherwise you will not win.

Yeah, I mean, most of the time you can't be perfect. That's why most of the time people lose to him. Against him, you have to win the match yourself. You have to be the one that is dominating the points. You have to do it with very little unforced errors.

He is the best player in the world. He is very difficult to beat. But he's still also got to win tonight. He's playing Matteo Berrettini who is in very good form, finals of Wimbledon. I think he's looking forward to that match, as well. It's going to be an interesting match to watch those two.

Q. You mentioned how important the win over him in Tokyo was for your confidence now. You've beaten him before. What was so important about that match?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, it's the biggest tournament in the world, Tokyo. It's the Olympics. Winning there against the world No. 1, especially that I was down a set and a break, being kind of out of the match, then coming back, it was different than the other matches. The emotions were different.

Also securing a medal for Germany was very special to me. This year it seems like nobody can beat him in a big match, nobody can beat him at the Grand Slams. I feel like I was the first player to beat him in a very big match this year.

That does give you something. To any person it would give you something. As I said before also, I think it was very important for me to back it up in the Finals, back it up in Cincinnati. Hopefully I can continue this streak.

Q. Recently how have you worked on your serve to make it more consistent?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: It's not only the recent past. I think it's the last few years. I've said it before, the serve is the shot I've spent the most time on, it's the shot that I've got to practice the most. At some point I feel like, if you work very hard, you're doing the right things, it will come together. Maybe that's what's happening right now.

Q. You referenced on the court how different it is compared to last year, playing in a great final match last year with nobody there. How has this been different?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Well, I mean, we have 20 plus thousand people in the stadium. That's how it's different. The atmosphere is different.

Last year I think the match we played with Dominic, the crowd would have gone insane. But there was no crowd. That's the difference. That's what I'm talking about.

It's so much more fun, so much more entertaining I think for everybody to be there when there are big numbers of spectators there.