AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2022

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/J. Millman

6-4, 6-4, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: A smooth swing for you tonight. Talk to us about how you're feeling now.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, it was good. Obviously happy to beat John the way I did, because for me he's always a very tricky opponent. I'm happy to only lose eight games.

I feel like, yeah, the third set for me was at a very high level.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I just wanted to ask, this gold medal is obviously one of the most precious things in the world to you, but you left it in the hands of your brother who you don't seem to think is very reliable.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, he's very reliable. I was just joking. He took it because I think I was coming from somewhere, I think US or something like that, and then he took it from Germany for a media appearance. That's why he had it. But, yeah, his hands are very reliable (smiling).

It's not lost or anything like that. It's also not scratched. When it travels, the gold meld, it's like packaged in like three T-shirts like folded in a very special manner that not one scratch gets on it.

Q. In your mind with Novak not at the tournament, how would you assess who the best players in the world are on the men's side on hard courts, and what do you think makes you so effective on hard courts?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I think, look, I think Novak is probably the best. No question about it. He's won the most.

But I think, yeah, I have said this a lot before, I think Daniil has won incredible tournaments the last few months, few years, so he's one of the best players on hard courts. I think, you know, I've won the Olympics, World Tour Finals, stuff like that, so, I mean, I think I can play quite well on hard courts. I think Tsitsipas can play well on hard courts. But I do think that Rafa right now is playing incredible tennis again. He's not somebody that you can forget this tournament.

Q. The second part about you specifically, when you think about your game, what makes it so conducive to doing so well on hard courts?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: But this question is, I mean, I kind of have been doing okay on all surfaces except maybe grass. I've won three Masters titles on clay, as well, won more on clay than I did on hard courts in that regard.

So, I mean, it's movement orientated, shot orientated, I can still hit quite heavy. These days the hard courts may be a bit slower than they used to be, but I wouldn't say that, you know, I'm only good on hard courts. I think I can play all around.

Q. You won so easily the third set. We were waiting 20 minutes more than when they announce you. But apart from that, what do you think about the fact that the French guy Humbert got COVID? Is that something that worries you, you players? He announced that and he will have to be five days, I think, in quarantine, and who knows who has he met and things like that. Is these kind of worrying you players or you feel quite safe?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I didn't know that he had COVID. I just heard it from you for the first time.

Sorry for the wait. I was practicing, which I needed to do (smiling).

Yeah, I mean, look, I think this year in Australia is a lot more cases than last year, simple as that. And we are allowed to go outside to eat, allowed to do whatever we want, so I think it's natural that more people get COVID.

My brother, when he arrived, he had it. He was in quarantine in Sydney, and now he obviously doesn't have it anymore, but I think quite a few players had it when they arrived. Quite a few players I think have it now. We are not getting tested, so I think if we would get tested there would be probably more positives than there are now, in a way.

But I'm somebody, I'm here to play the tournament, and I understand that there is a lot of cases in Melbourne, there is a lot of cases in Australia all around. So I don't do much outside. I haven't been to any restaurants yet. I haven't been out. I haven't been anywhere but the hotel room and the courts, so I'm kind of doing a bubble for myself, simply because I don't want to take any risks and I want to give myself the best chance possible to do well here. If I get COVID, then that's obviously not gonna happen.