AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2025

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/N. Djokovic

7-6 (ret.)

THE MODERATOR: Congrats, Sascha, for reaching another Grand Slam final. Not the way you wanted or expected to win. Did you say anything to Novak at the net? Did you expect him to retire after such a tight first set?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I didn't expect it. Of course, not. I thought it was still a very high-level first set.

I think with a muscle injury, I mean, he knew probably to beat me after the first set, he would have had to play probably at least three more hours, and that's very difficult to do if you have a tear or if you have a muscle injury.

It's difficult to, you know, continue playing at high intensity because it doesn't get better. In a worst-case scenario, it gets worse. That was maybe more it.

Again, as I said on the court, I have nothing but respect for him. I absolutely admire him. Yeah, it's the way it is now.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Sascha, from your perspective, is it a net positive at this stage of the tournament to have less time on court or does having to deal with a withdrawal interfere with your rhythm?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I still think that I played a high-level set. I think we both did. So in that regard, I still played tennis, right? It's not like it was a withdrawal from the get-go, and I would have had, what, four days off. That would have been maybe a bit too much because then you feel like you're starting a new tournament. You don't want this feeling before a final. You want to be in a match rhythm.

But, look, it is how it is. It's nothing that, of course, I wished for, but it happened. I'm obviously happy that I'm in a Grand Slam final again. I'm obviously happy that I have another shot at winning a Grand Slam.

Was it the way I wanted it to end? No, of course not. It's how it is sometimes in sports. I've been in his situation, you know, at the French Open with probably a worse injury. It's life. It's sports. Life goes on.

Q. After the French Open final, you came in and did a press conference, and the last thing you said was in comparing yourself to him, to Carlos Alcaraz at the time, you said, I have to look at myself, and I have to look at the team that I have and see what I can do to become at the same level. I just wondered, in the months that have followed since then, what you did do?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I hired Jez Green as a new physical trainer. My old physical trainer was one of the best physical trainers and one of the best people that I knew. He got some health issues, unfortunately. Then gave me the opportunity to hire Jez Green again.

I was always very proud and very, you know, kind of I always knew that I could last with anyone for as long as I wanted when I was with Jez Green, and I was with him for seven years. I felt like I was physically one of the strongest players on tour.

I was not with him when I got injured. So recovering from injury and coming back from the injury, I think the hard work needed probably to double and to go up even more to become the same level again.

That was the reason why I hired him, to be physically at the same level again that I was and to be able to compete with those guys. I think I said it also after the French Open final, I got tired against Carlos. I simply got tired in the fourth and fifth set.

Yes, there was some unlucky moments. The match could have gone a different direction if the out call would have been called out and all of that. In general, I got tired, and I didn't want that to happen this year anymore.

Q. How do you feel in the last couple of weeks that what you did in the last couple of months when you were so vocal, you know, in October and November about how much you were practicing after matches and getting prepared, how has that paid dividends?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I don't think I was vocal about it. I think people just noticed it more. Look, I've made no secret about it: I was very frustrated after the US Open. I was very disappointed with myself, with my performance, and how I played there.

Again, my goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete for these kind of tournaments and try to win them. For that, I need to get better. I need to improve on the court. I need to improve physically. That's why I kind of said to the end-of-the-year tournaments, yes, I'm going to play them, but I'm going to play them also to improve and to try to become a better tennis player.

I was still practicing through all the tournaments. I was still doing quite a lot of physical training through the tournaments, as well, for these kind of moments, for Grand Slams and hopefully to be able to lift these kind of trophies.

Q. On court you said that you had a chat with Novak in Shanghai last year.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah.

Q. Can you share some context? Why were you in a tough spot mentally, like you said?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Because I was disappointed after the French Open how my year was going. I was not winning tournaments anymore. Again, US Open, I keep going back to US Open, but US Open was extremely disappointing to me because I thought I had a big chance to go very far there, to make it to the finals. I performed bad. Very, very bad in my opinion.

You know, I was just asking him how it was for him when he was having difficult moments, you know, 2016, '17 and all that, how he was coming back. He was always very open to me.

We had very long chats there, as well. We practiced quite a lot together in Shanghai, funny enough. He was just talking to me about his situations and about his experiences with difficult times.

Q. Obviously your opponent is still to be decided, but could you share your thoughts on facing either the players that you might face in the final.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, look, I think Jannik has been the best player in the world for the past 12 months. There's no doubt about it. Won two Grand Slams. Has been very, very stable in those regards. So definitely one of the best players in the world.

Ben is very young, very up-and-coming. Still has unbelievable power. Has a serve that maybe we've never seen before in terms of variety, not only speed, but just what he can do with a tennis ball.

But I think it's going to be interesting. I think obviously playing in the night maybe will favor Jannik a bit more because simply the ball will not be as alive for Ben as he would maybe like.

We'll see who it's going to be. I'm sure it's going to be a tough battle on Sunday no matter who it is.

Q. Novak said he definitely wants you to win on Sunday, and he's not the only one who said that going to be cheering for you and who wants you to win your first major. It's such an individual sport. How does it mean for you to have the support from the other tennis players?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: That means a lot to me, especially from Novak, I think, who I admire and respect so much. Yeah, as I said, I'm looking forward to Sunday. I do feel like I have done the work, and I do feel like I'm ready for it. So we'll see how it goes.

I'm very thankful to Novak for wishing me that. Yeah, let's see what's going to happen on the weekend.

Q. Sascha, some people have criticized Novak for stopping the game abruptly. Perhaps no calling doctor, no considering a bit more the retirement. Would you have handled that situation differently?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, because Novak knows his body better than anyone else. Simple as that. What is a doctor going to do? I know from his team, because I talked to his team after the match, he was already on painkillers. He knows that it's an injury that he had before. So, okay, he's going to call the doctor. To tell him what, exactly? To take more pills? At some point there's a limit also on how much you can take.

So I think we should stop blaming Novak. Novak has done absolutely everything he could on the tennis court in the last 20 years. I said it on court. He's won this tournament with an abdominal tear where most players can't even continue playing. He's won this tournament with a hamstring tear. You know, so he's a ten-time champion. I think we should all just respect that in a way, because there's nobody in this sport's history who has won and who has done as much as him.

So I think, yeah, there's nothing more to add.