A. ZVEREV/P.H. Herbert
2-6, 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. A terrific comeback. My question is a little bit off-topic. You have had a lot of experience in the bubble in New York, staying for a long time in COVID-related issues. Can you talk about the difference between here in Paris and there?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: You guys heard a lot of comments from other players, didn't you?
Q. Yeah.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, you can't compare the bubble. You just simply can't.
New York, I feel like the tournament, because that was the first, they wanted to impress us players. They wanted to do something amazing, which I honestly think they have.
The hotel was obviously not a five-star hotel but how they have done everything in the lobby, everything with the games, with the golf simulator, with the basketball, with the mini golf, with all different kinds of entertainment stuff, how they did the outside area with massive screens, how they did the food trucks, every day a different food truck, how they did just everything. It felt like massive camping trip with all the tennis players.
The on-site stuff was amazing. Obviously the suites helped a lot, how they did everything on-site. The entertainment on-site was quite incredible as well. The spacing was incredible.
Here nothing really has changed to a normal tournament except that there is less people. We still have our players' areas. We don't have the entertainment that we did in New York. The hotel is not really a bubble. There is other guests staying there. In the room next to me there is guests, regular guests staying there with souvenirs every single day that they come, you know, from the Eiffel Tower and stuff like that.
Yeah, you can't compare the two. New York has impressed us players. Here they have not done too much. Which, you know, the site is incredible how it is, but, yeah, New York was impressive.
Q. You're 15-7 in five sets. You're 6 out of 6 here in Roland Garros. Why do you think you're so effective out of the five sets?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Well, honestly I think I'm quite fit, to be honest. I feel like physically I'm okay.
But, you know, sometimes I just feel like I find a way, like today. Today I was not the better player on court. I was not hitting my forehand better, not hitting my backhand better, not serving better. I was not doing anything better than he did. But I found a way, which was the most important. Sometimes I manage to do that quite well, I think.
Yeah, I think I lost the most important five-setter in my career so far, which is upsetting but it's okay.
Q. I have played with some pretty heavy balls in my time, and there is lots of talk about heavy balls here at Roland Garros. How do they compare to some of the balls you have played with in the past? And do you like heavy balls?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I'm not going to go the sexual way in this question, just so everybody knows, which I could (smiling).
For me, the best clay court ball is the Dunlop ball, and then for me the worst clay court ball was the Babolat ball. So this is somewhere in between. I think there are some great ball companies. I personally like the HEAD Penn balls we play with in the U.S. and some indoor events. I think the Dunlop ball is quite well.
What do I think about the ball here? I think the ball here is okay. It's not bad. It's a massive improvement from the Babolat ball. That's for sure.
Yeah, the conditions make it heavy, as well. We are playing in 10 degrees and rain most of the time. So I'm not sure the Babolat ball would be flying that much either here right now.
Q. Back to the five sets, considering your good record in the five sets, do you feel you have always had the confidence in those matches? Do you believe that's something you have really had to work on over the years?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: It's something that I worked on not in the matches but outside the court, in the gym in the offseason and the training blocks that I did. It was for these moments.
You know, you don't need to be lifting 170 kilos on dead lifts or 150 kilos on squats for three-set matches. That's not what you're doing it for. You're doing it for five-set matches, for the big moments like this.
I think that the work has been done not on the court but off the court.
Q. Songs have been written about Paris in the springtime. I don't know if any songs have been written about Paris in the autumn. Is there anything about Paris in the autumn, you're kind of locked away in the hotel, but is there anything about being here in this season that you have actually appreciated?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: We are playing a Grand Slam, which they made possible happening. I mean, the comparison between New York and Paris, yes, New York was better. Let's just face it. New York, the bubble and everything, how the organization was, they really tried for the players.
Here, they are not doing as much. But credits to Roland Garros, because they are still making a tournament happen, you know. There is other tournaments that just said, Okay, there is not going to be fans, there's not going to be as much money, we're just going to cancel it.
They are still putting on an effort to do the tournament and still putting in an effort to have a Grand Slam champion, to have a Roland Garros champion. So I have to give credit to them, as well.
This is a business trip for us. We are playing a Grand Slam. We are not here for the fun of it. We're not here for entertainment. We are not here to, you know, necessarily have a good time. When you're winning, you're having a good time. But outside of the court you're not necessarily here to have a good time.
Yeah, it's definitely different, but I think a lot of players are still appreciating the opportunity to play. Simple as that.
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