NITTO ATP FINALS

November 11, 2024

Alexander Zverev

Inalpi Arena,Torino

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/A. Rublev

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, tell us more about your new routine of going to practice after each match, and why you're doing this.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: It's not a routine. We don't really get much center court time here, so I wanted to hit a few balls still.

I think today was a very good match, but it was a very fast-hitting match. I think there were some long rallies, but I still think it was very fast-paced tennis. So I just wanted to get some rhythm, yeah.

But overall I'm happy with the win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You lost only 10 points in 10 service games, which is not very usual maybe. The surface is maybe not so slow as they said. They all talk about Sinner mania in Italy. Everybody is crazy with Sinner. You were an Olympic champion, you won two ATP Finals, you're No. 2 in the world. How do you explain if there is not a Zverev mania in Germany?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: In Germany?

Q. Or maybe there is.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: In Germany I think there is. Maybe not as big as in Italy for Jannik. Jannik won two Grand Slams this year, so he deserves it, for sure. He's the best player in the world. He's No. 1 in the world. He deserves all the credit he gets.

Back to the surface. The surface is very slow. It's too slow for an indoor hard court. I'm not complaining because I like slow surfaces, I like fast surfaces. I don't really care too much.

I think in tennis right now, we're missing game styles a little bit. The reason why is because I think clay courts and hard courts, they're all pretty much the same. They're almost the same speed, with the exception of two tournaments this year, with the exception of Cincinnati and of Paris Bercy, because they're faster.

I'm missing a little bit the differences in surfaces because before there was a clear difference between a clay court and outdoor hard courts. Some were very slow like in Indian Wells, but some were very fast, like Canada was always very fast, Shanghai was always very fast. And indoor hard courts. I think we lost that a little bit by trying to make all the surfaces very similar and almost the same.

I think when Roger was still on tour, it was very different. There was big, big differences between a clay court, a hard court and indoor hard court. I'm missing that right now a little bit.

Q. When you say we're missing game styles, what role do you think the ball plays in this? Do you have one favorite ball from this season? Do you wish they would make the ball more consistent and change the surface more?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, the ball is a big subject. I actually, because I'm on the players council, the ball was a very interesting subject to me, as well. I kind of went into search mode a little bit. I asked companies and I asked the production of the tennis balls.

Since COVID, all the companies, it's not only one company, so Dunlop was always the best tennis ball kind of, but they've gotten a lot worse. I always loved the Penn balls. They've gotten a lot slower.

The reason being, because of COVID, the companies tried to cut costs and they're using a different rubber material now. They're using a different material for the tennis balls, which makes the tennis balls between 30% and 60% slower on average compared to what it was before COVID.

I just generally think in general, it's not only one company, but in general the balls got a lot worse and a lot slower. They're not as consistent anymore. They don't last as long anymore.

Before even a Dunlop ball, why I used to love it, why a Dunlop ball was so great, when they were new, they were very fast through the court, then they got bigger. When they got bigger, they were still flying through the air because the air inside and the pressure inside didn't leave. The ball just fluffed up.

What happens now with the tennis balls is that the air and the pressure leaves the tennis ball because of the material. The material doesn't keep it inside. It's not only that the ball fluffs up, but actually the air and the pressure of the tennis ball drops drastically.

That's why a lot of players now have elbow issues. A lot of players have wrist issues. That was not the case about 10, 15 years ago.

I don't know if I explained it well or understood.

I was very interested in the tennis ball. I don't have a reason to complain. I'm No. 2 in the world. I've had a great season. I'm not complaining because of results. I just think in long-term, long run, players' health is a big issue with the tennis balls we have at the moment.

They're a little bit like a shuttlecock. They fly very fast through the air the first two, three meters, then they just slow down. There's nothing that keeps the ball alive, which was very different about five, six years ago.

Q. Could you have a chance to watch all the celebration before your match started with Boris giving the No. 1 to Jannik? How do you feel about that? In Jannik's position, if you were in Germany, how would you have feel?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: First of all, I mean, as I said he's the best player in the world. He won two Grand Slams, won the most Masters events this year. He deserves to be No. 1 for sure.

I of course didn't watch it because I was getting ready for my match. I was warming up, doing my things. We went on the court straight after.

I didn't know that Boris gave him the trophy and stuff like that. I think it's a great moment for him, for Italian tennis, yeah.

We'll see who's going to receive that trophy next year.