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INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA


May 19, 2017


Alexander Zverev


Rome, Italy

A. ZVEREV/M. Raonic

7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What do you think of your chances after that performance of going all the way here?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: All the way, meaning winning?

Q. Winning the title, yeah.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, tomorrow I will be one of four players still in the tournament. I will give it 25% (smiling).

Q. First Masters semi for you. Does it feel like a big milestone?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, it's another steppingstone in my career. I feel like I have played very well today. I returned very well.

So I'm happy to be in semis and playing John tomorrow, who I know very well, you know, from our Saddlebrook days. We practice quite a lot together in the offseason and do quite a lot of stuff together.

It's going to be a great match. I'm excited for both of us.

Q. We all know that you are a hard worker and are very ambitious, but are you also a little bit surprised in a good way that it goes so fast and so quick from few months ago till now?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Well, I have had this question asked yesterday.

Q. I wasn't there, sorry.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: That's fine. I will answer it again.

I'm not surprised -- "surprised" is the wrong word. I'm more happy about it, you know, because I know what I have done this offseason. I know how much work I did. I think if you do so much that the result comes itself. So I think that all put together, I think at some point this will come.

Of course I'm very happy that it's coming sooner rather than later, but at the same time, I know what I have done and I know how much work I did.

Q. What are your earliest memories of playing John?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Earliest memories? Probably when I was 14, 15, practicing with him at Saddlebrook. We started practicing together from a very young age.

Saddlebrook was always very supportive with me. They always let me practice with the pros from a young age since I'm a junior, those kind of moments.

I played him twice already. The match in Miami was quite memorable this year, so hopefully it will be another tough battle tomorrow.

Q. I don't know how tall you were when you were 14, but imagine being a junior and facing that tall a guy, it's not something you get in juniors very much.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: We practiced more than played points or something like that. It was different than playing him in the semifinals of a Masters tomorrow.

Q. You talk about your hard work and physical hard work you have been doing. I see Jez is here. When you're on the road and Jez is there, do you put in a lot of time in the gym, or is he just here in a supportive role?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, this week is more about not getting hurt and more about feeling as well as possible, because this is my fifth week on the road. So I have done a lot of miles on my legs and on the tennis court.

This week is more about getting the body right, getting the body lined up posterior-wise and doing all sorts of stuff like this.

But next week, the week before Paris, we will do a lot of hard work again.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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