THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 28, 2025

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, happy to be back at Wimbledon?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, very happy. Obviously very special place to everyone. Yeah, happy to be on Centre Court on Monday, as well, which is always an honor.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said before that some people have written you off because of a few losses so far this season. You've come into Wimbledon with double the matches on grass compared to last year. What expectations do you have for yourself for the tournament?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I had pretty good preparation. Played a final, played a semifinal, worked through those tournaments as well.

I mean, I think people are forgetting I'm still No. 3 in the world and I'm No. 3 in the race. I've had a few maybe losses here and there, which were normal, which were maybe unexpected. All in all, I feel like my form has been coming back the last few weeks, few months.

I'm looking forward to this Championship. I think I can play well here.

Q. As a veteran of the tour...

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: A veteran? Really? That's the first time I've ever been called a 'veteran' (smiling).

Q. How about 'not a new person'? Which factors do you think cause the most mental stress through the grind of the season?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think it's just the continuity of not having breaks. It's a subject that has been there just for a very long time. I just don't think we have an off-season. I don't think we have time to mentally rest, physically rest, and all of that.

But all in all, I don't want to complain because I love being a tennis player. I love playing tennis. I love doing the things that I do.

We are all complaining on a very, very high level, right? I mean, I think we're all making kind of a good amount of money. We're traveling the world. We're living in five-star hotels most of the time. We are at beautiful places most of the time.

Yes, sometimes you maybe want to sit on the couch and not do anything, but that's the life we chose. To be honest, it was always my dream to be a tennis player. I feel like I'm living that dream, and I'm enjoying it.

Q. Taylor was talking the other day, I don't know if you saw this, about highlights. He was basically saying there was a match against Fonseca. He was having a joke. All the shots were of Joao. Do you ever watch highlights of your matches and think, That doesn't really reflect the match, or that makes me look better or worse maybe?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: If you watch the highlights, they always make you feel better about yourself, right (smiling)?

No, but I think there's players that just, generally speaking, there's going to be more highlight reels of them than of other players, which does not necessarily mean that they're better. It's just the style of play. It's just the entertainment factor that they bring.

For sure Carlos Alcaraz is one of them, Joao Fonseca is one of them, Bublik, someone like that. They will always have more highlight reels even if they lose matches.

I'm not sure what Taylor exactly said. I didn't see it. But if that's referring to that, then yes. For example, someone like Taylor, who is just a powerhouse basically, will not maybe have as many highlight reels. That doesn't necessarily mean that he's a worse tennis player than those guys.

Q. (Question about players watching highlight reels.)

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: If you asked Bublik, then probably yes. I think the top guys, probably not so much. They're just trying to win.

Q. It's first time we seen no linesmen and women at Wimbledon. I was wondering, do you prefer the human eye or the electronic eye? How much confidence do you have in the current electronic system?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I like the electronic system. I really don't mind it. I think there are some tournaments which it was not working well. I think Madrid it was not working well. There was multiple occasions where there were mistakes in it.

All in all, I do think it makes the game more fair. I think there's no mistakes happening anymore. Generally speaking, I don't mind the electronic line system.

Q. Speaking of trying new things in tennis, obviously at the US Open there's a lot of excitement about the mixed doubles tournament there. Do you think tennis needs to do more in terms of experimenting with new formats and coming up with new ways of creating more crowd-pleasing events?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: It's funny you say that because, I mean, in the players council. We just had this discussion yesterday of how much tennis has grown in the last 20, 25 years.

The answer to that is no, because tennis is growing yearly. The fan interest is growing yearly. The income, the revenue is growing yearly.

I think it's fun what the US Open are doing with the mixed doubles event. But generally speaking, I think our sport is a very old, classical sport. The fans that we have, they want to watch that.

I don't believe that we need to experiment more than we are doing. I think tennis is doing very well, in general.

Q. Where were you and what was going through your mind during the Alcaraz-Sinner French Open final, assuming you had the opportunity to watch?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I was on the golf course in Mallorca (smiling).

I actually only saw the final set tiebreak. Apart from that, I was thinking of not how to not slice my drive. That's more of what I was thinking about during the match, yeah.

I watched the tiebreak. I mean, it was exciting. Obviously it was a great match. It was one of the historic matches that people will remember.

I didn't see much of it live. I saw the tiebreak. Apart from that, I was playing golf (smiling).