US OPEN

August 26, 2024

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/M. Marterer

6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, congratulations. Four sets under three hours. Assess your performance today.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Just my usual first round, I guess. Made it complicated for myself at times, but, you know, in the practice week beforehand, I was practicing and playing extremely well. Was feeling the ball extremely well.

It's different on the match court, different in the first round. But I'm, you know, glad that I won. Moving forward, I know that I have good tennis in me, and hopefully I can show that on the match court.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Seemed like you were hitting stuff out of bounds, hitting the net quite a few times. Could you talk a little bit about the unforced errors today.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I don't know what the stats are, but as I said, it's the first round. I'm not usually the type of player that plays extremely well in first-round matches.

Getting through is the most important thing. As I said, I felt the ball extremely well in practice, and I feel like I had a very good practice week so far here. I know that I have good tennis in me, and it's about showing that on the match court.

Again, I think my performance will improve over the next few matches.

Q. At Wimbledon, before you got hurt, at the beginning of the tournament, you said you felt as though this was my chance. I feel as though I'm playing as well as I possibly can to win a major. How are you feeling right now, and what is that mentality?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, actually at Wimbledon this year, I felt like I was playing some of the best tennis of my life until the injury. Definitely some of the best tennis on grass courts that I've ever played.

But, you know, I've been close this year. I feel like really in Australia and at the French Open I was close to getting one. You know, didn't go my way, but still, I feel the same way. I feel like, you know, I'm on the right path, I feel like I'm doing all the right things. Hopefully it's going to come.

Q. You have spoken before about you like to get a lot of sleep in. Do you have, like, a schedule? Do you speak to an expert, something like that, especially at this tournament where sleep can be a premium, like how you manage that?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I'm actually lucky enough that when I lay down, I sleep. I'm fine. Doesn't matter whether it's 3:00 a.m. or 11:00 p.m. I sleep quite good and quite deep.

Yeah, I'm not somebody that struggles with that in that regard, but 11:00 a.m. matches is not my favorite. I think everybody knows that (smiling).

But it's part of our sport. I mean, we don't have a set schedule. We don't know when we play, you know, in advance, except if you're No. 1 or 2 in the world, then you can maybe have a say or have an influence on the schedule. Or if you're American at the US Open, then maybe you can, as well.

But, you know, that's about it. I don't have an influence on the schedule. I don't know when I play, don't know what court I play, even though, you know, being No. 4 in the world, I would like to think that I'm gonna play on the big courts. But apart from that, there is no influence on that regard.

Q. Do you think you benefit from a lot of sleep?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Do I think I benefit? I think there is a study that shows, I don't know if it's true or not, that tall people need more sleep than maybe shorter people. Yeah.

Me, I'm between 9 and 11 hours. If I sleep under 8 hours, I'm a zombie. I'm not functional at all (smiling).

Q. US Open is the last Grand Slam. You had to play the Olympics. How do you think that would affect the players here now in New York?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, it's been a tough year, tough schedule this year, for sure. It's very packed. But of course the Olympics is a highlight. Comes once every four years and everybody wants to play there and everybody wants to perform well there. Some players did; some players didn't. I was one who had quite a disappointing Olympic Games.

All in all, we have important tournaments throughout the year, Olympics was one of them, for sure. The Grand Slams are the other ones that are quite important for us. So I think everybody wants to do the best they can for the last Grand Slam this year.