AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2024

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/A. Michelsen

6-2, 7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Let's go straight into questions in English.

Q. I just wanted to ask you about playing Cam Norrie next. You said on court that you watched quite a bit of his match; is that right?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah.

Q. He played in maybe quite a different style to how we normally think of Cam Norrie playing. He came to the net a lot. I wondered what you thought of his performance.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I actually thought he played exactly what he was working on in the offseason. We obviously spent the offseason together in Monaco, so I've seen him every single day. This is exactly what he was working on.

You know, when you think of Cameron Norrie, you normally think of somebody who grinds a lot, somebody, a big fighter, you know. But in the offseason he really worked on his game and he really worked on the aggressive style of play. He really worked on coming forward.

It was very noticeable in December, and you can kind of see it on the court now. The work is paying off for him.

Q. What is your impressions of him, having seen him behind the scenes? We think of him as somebody who is an incredibly hard worker.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, he is. He definitely is. No question about that.

But, I mean, I have a decent relationship with him. I have absolutely no issues. I have practiced with him a few times in Monaco, as well, in December. I played a few practice sets, as well.

We know each other well. There is no question about that. But obviously he's playing great tennis, you know, beating Casper. I think Casper was undefeated in Australia so far this year, also playing great tennis.

Although I did find the match a bit weird maybe. Not weird, but just a lot of back-and-forth, in a way, especially in the third set, Casper being up a break and then all of a sudden losing, I think it was three or four games in a row, something like that, to lose the set.

But, you know, obviously the match was a very high level. I'm looking forward to a tough match.

Q. Obviously you've got a really good record against him. How much does that help going into a match knowing that you've beaten the guy kind of every time you have played?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, but I think everybody is always improving. Everybody is always trying new things.

I think with Cam this year, you definitely see that. You see it to a different extent, in a way, much more aggressive player, but I'm just going to try to, you know, to keep going for it and just try to extend my lead in a way.