Germany - 3
Brazil - 0
THE MODERATOR: Strong performance today from you both, well done in the 3-0 win. Can you each please assess the performance.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, from my side I thought it was an okay match, it was solid. I felt exactly how I was expecting to feel. Maybe not the best tennis match from the baseline from me, but I had a very hard off-season, I was working extremely hard, so my body still needs time to adjust to a tennis court. I was working very physically, physically quite a lot, so yeah, I'm happy with the win.
I'm also very proud of Laura winning two matches today. Great effort to give us a 3-0 win. I think it gives us a great chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals.
THE MODERATOR: Laura?
LAURA SIEGEMUND: Yeah, I expected a really tough match against Bia, I know her well, we played already this year on clay. Yeah, it's not easy to come out and play really good tennis right away. I haven't had many points on the center court either, so I was really proud about my singles match.
Also there were ups and downs, but overall it's a big win for me. You know, I'm definitely not the favorite in that match, and I'm really proud.
The mixed was important to get the third point. I think that makes, that might be a really, really important point down the road. Yeah, that wasn't the best of either of us, but also there it's also important just to be on the court together, to play that match, and kind of work out the errors and eliminate them, and then hopefully play better next time. But still we got the win, and that was the important thing.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?
Q. Laura, you said that you were not the favorite but your head-to-head with her begs to differ. Is there anything in particular tactically about her game that you like so much, or are you just putting that down to the fight that you're willing to put in?
LAURA SIEGEMUND: Yeah, I think that's it. I know she's a fighter, I'm a fighter. I know how to play her. I've had successful matches against her. I think that always gives you a good feeling when you know you can beat someone. Yeah, that's what I showed today.
I hung in there after the second set. She overpowered me and she played better, but, yeah, I guess I just know what my end goal is, and I know if I do that well I can beat her.
Q. I guess you probably know then, playing against Xinyu in the next match, you know she's going to be another fighter. Can you expect the same thing?
LAURA SIEGEMUND: Yeah, I think she played a great first match, and very physical match. She played other very physical matches last year, so she's definitely, you know, someone who can hang into long matches. It's going to be the same thing. I think I have to try to dominate and try not to let her play her game.
Q. Seems like this year you're going to be playing a different role in the singles and the mixed. How have you found that, after the first tie, how have you found that?
LAURA SIEGEMUND: Yeah, you know, you know it's going to be hard, you're going to spend a lot of time on court, but that's what I came here for. I wasn't necessarily expecting to be in singles, but here I am, and as we can see, I still can play good.
It's going to be physically challenging for me, but I also had a very hard off-season, I worked hard to be able to do it, to do those two matches a day, and, yeah, that's what I came here for, to perform well in both.
Q. Sascha, another clinical performance, especially on serve. Do you feel now going into service games this is the most confident that you've ever been?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think last year or last season has been quite a good serving year for me, I think probably the best on stats I've ever had. I think the more you play and the more service games you win your confidence kinds of builds for sure.
I didn't serve since Turin. I had a little bit of an elbow issue. I think my speeds still need to go up a little bit. I felt comfortable today for sure. For first match I thought it was very decent.
I thought from the baseline, yes, I can play better, but still for first match of the new season it was decent. I'm happy all around.
Q. Going back to the off-season, was there anything in particular, you said you were training hard, was there anything in particular you were looking to improve on?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, I'm back with Jaz Green, I worked with him for seven years, and we kind of had a split for three years, and we're back together. So, for me the physical aspect probably was the most important of the off-season for sure. I feel like I've lost one or two matches last year because I got tired, which I don't want to happen this year. They were big matches. They were maybe the Australian Open with Daniil, where I was a bit sick, actually, I was playing with fever there, and then there was at the French Open with Carlos where I got tired. And again, I don't want that to happen again, so, yeah, a lot of hard work on that aspect. I think the tennis will maybe take longer time to adjust this year than it was maybe last year.
Q. You've got China coming up next, big game for you guys. They obviously had a good start to their campaign as well. You face Zhang Zhizhen, you played him once in Hamburg last year, what are you expecting from him?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Big player, big game, very fast pace, I think. He had a wonderful first match, I thought, against Thiago. I thought Thiago didn't maybe play his best in that match, but ZZZ definitely outplayed him.
I'm looking forward to a tough challenge. I think he's somebody that is still rising up the rankings. He's not young any more in that regards, but I think he's still somebody that is maybe a late bloomer in a way, and he's still improving each year, so I'm looking forward to the challenge.
Q. Laura, that second set, obviously ended 6-1, but it didn't feel maybe like a 6-1 set, it felt like you were right there in a lot of the points. What were you telling yourself in that third set?
LAURA SIEGEMUND: Yeah, I was asking my team, Do you feel like I'm playing that much worse, because I didn't feel like that at all. I had two or three break points right in her first service game or something, really early, then I had game points on my serve and lost those games, and suddenly it's like 1-3, where I was up in the game. Yeah, I think it was just important then to be clear about how I would lose, or why I would lose those games, and what I can do better with it. I guess I did that then in the third, so just like not to get down about myself too much.
She also played great. She had some, like, break points where she played, you know, good balls on the line, just then you just can't do much.
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