A. ZVEREV/B. Shelton
6-3, 7-6
THE MODERATOR: Sascha, well done.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: That was a solid first match. What do you think made the difference today, especially in the second set tiebreak?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Just controlling the things I can control. He's one of the most aggressive players, maybe the most aggressive player, in the world at the moment. Sometimes the points are in his hands more than yours.
I feel like the things that I could do well I did well today. Yeah, very happy with this win.
THE MODERATOR: First question.
Q. The other day someone told you that you were the oldest, but to be the oldest means to be more experienced. Tonight you won because of more experience. He made some mistakes that if he was 27 he wouldn't make. Do you agree on that?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I don't. I think his game style is like that. He makes sometimes unbelievable winners, and sometimes he makes these kind of mistakes. But that's just the way he plays. He's so aggressive that he takes this risk all the time. When I was his age, I was not playing this aggressive. I didn't have these shots. I didn't have this kind of serve. I didn't have this kind of forehand. It's just the game style that he has, I think. It's more about that.
But to be honest, at 6-3 I did two very good returns. Especially at 6-4 off a first serve. So I made him play. I feel like I deserve credit for that, as well.
Again, I felt like I controlled the things well that I could control. That's it.
Q. What is your physical situation now as far as the injury is concerned? Is it better again?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah.
Q. Is it stabilizing?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I felt good today. Right now I can go one match at a time. I felt great in Vienna. I felt great in Paris until I played that long match against Daniil, then my ankle really swelled up. I couldn't really move properly at all during the semis match.
And to be honest, Jannik is somebody that exposes that 200%, right? If you can't move against him, you have no chance.
But right now I had a good time to recover. I saw my surgeon in Munich after Paris. For now today I felt great. I have two days off now. I'm sure they will be beneficial to me. Looking forward to the next couple of matches, which are going to be difficult, as well.
Q. I was going to ask you a question about you playing lefties. I don't know if you know, but you won 36 out of your last 37 matches against lefties.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: The only one I lost was against Learner Tien in Acapulco, which was the worst match I played in the last five years.
Q. You said you have two days off. It means you already know you're playing on Wednesday?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Isn't that official?
Q. Not yet.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No?
Q. Thank you.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know (smiling). I thought I play Wednesday.
Look, I think lefties are difficult always. When Rafa was around, I don't think this record was for me like this (smiling). I think there was a couple of years where there weren't, like, great lefties around, right? After Rafa, there was a period where there weren't any top-10 players who were lefties.
Now of course with Draper and Ben Shelton, also Humbert, he can play amazing. There are some good lefties again. Learner Tien is playing amazing tennis as well. So I think there are great tennis players, as well.
I grew up with a lefty with my brother. I was practicing with him all my life. If you talk about a typical lefty, he could not be more of a typical lefty if you try. With his serve, how he was playing his slice, how he's playing tennis, it was the most lefty game possible. I kind of got used to it. Maybe it helps me now.
Q. What were your thoughts when you served at 130 kilometers in the tiebreak, the second serve?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I shanked it. I didn't hit it with my string at all. Happy it went in.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports