NITTO ATP FINALS

November 20, 2021

Alexander Zverev

Pala Alpitour, Torino

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/N. Djokovic

7-6, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said some wonderful things about Novak at the end the match, namely that he should be more respected in the tennis community. Should his views on the criteria for playing in the next Australian Open also be more respected in the tennis world?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Look, this is a very tough one because it's very political. At the end of the day I don't know his criterias. I don't know them to the point.

But we are visiting another country. This is not about tennis. This is about the virus that is going on, right? This is not about a tournament or tennis. We are visiting a different country. At the end of the day the country is allowing us to enter. We need to follow the rules and follow the guidelines.

I hope he's able to play. At the end of the day, I'm No. 3 in the world, so if he doesn't play, it's easier to win the tournament. This is obvious. Also he's No. 1 in the world so he should be there.

Hopefully the Australian government will make an exemption or whatever it is that they can do for him to be able to participate there.

Q. To clarify, it's not the Australian government, it's the Victorian government that put the mandate that everybody has to be vaccinated to be able to be on-site. It's not even a Tennis Australia decision. But to the issue at hand, your thoughts of coming up against Daniil again tomorrow? I think you'll have seen enough of each other in the last month.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I'm looking forward to it because the last match was very close and I lost it. I'm looking forward to having another chance. We're also playing the final, so I'm happy to be in the final no matter who it is against.

Yeah, I mean, look, at the end of the day he's one of the best players in the world right now, so it's going to be a difficult match no matter what.

Q. Where would you place this match in the ranking of the best of your career and why?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: If this match is the best of my career?

Q. Where would you place this match?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I don't know. I mean, I can't remember every single match that I played in my career.

But every time we play against each other, it's very high level. This year we played each other five times. Every time it went the distance. Every time we played for multiple hours and it was very physical.

Yeah, look, it was a great match. I mean, when two players in form play each other, there's always a great match. I think today was the case of that.

Q. What role did Novak play in your development as a tennis player and a person?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think later on now when I am on tour, he's somebody that a lot of players appreciate being able to talk to him. He understands me. We have discussions, not only about tennis, but have discussions about life things. We have discussions about other things that happen around the world. This is what I appreciate him for.