AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 30, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/A. Zverev

6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What are your overall thoughts on the match?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Unbelievable fight, battle. Unfortunate ending for me, but to be honest, I had absolutely nothing left in me.

Even at 5-4, you know normally I can rely on my serve a bit more. My legs stopped pushing upward, so yeah, that's the way it is. This is life. We move on.

Q. Tough one, Sascha. How did you feel about sort of the way the match was handled during the whole situation when Carlos was not feeling great and also, I guess, getting some treatment? You seemed to have some complaints. I'm curious what your thoughts were.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, he was cramping, so normally you can't take a medical timeout for cramping, yeah. What can I do? It's not my decision. I didn't like it, but it's not my decision.

Q. We heard you speaking in German at the time. Can you give us any...

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: In German? Oh, yeah, with...

Q. When it was first happening, he was taking the MTO, what were you sort of saying?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I just said it was bullshit, basically, because --

Q. (Off mic.)

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I don't remember. To be honest, it was 17 hours ago (smiling), and I don't quite remember, but I'm sure somebody has it on video and you can check.

But, to be honest, I don't want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia. It doesn't deserve to be the topic now.

Q. Do you have any specific regrets from the match?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, the second set. That one, for me, I felt like I should have won. You know, especially serving for it, I didn't play a good game serving for it.

Funny enough, I don't have many regrets in the fifth set, because I was hanging on for dear life, to be honest. I was exhausted.

But, yeah, the second set. I think going up, being one set all, and him starting to cramp in the third set, that probably would have made a difference, yeah.

Q. Is this physically the toughest match you've ever played in your career?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Probably, yeah.

Q. How does it compare to the loss last year in terms of your emotions, your feelings?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: To be honest, I think I'm way too tired to have emotions right now, so like in two days' time, I'll probably have more, but right now I'm just exhausted.

I think we both went to our absolute limits, so somewhat I'm also proud of myself the way I was hanging on and came back from two sets to love.

Yeah, of course it's disappointing, but this is the start of the year, so if I continue playing that way, if I continue training the way I train, if I continue working on the things that I've been working in the offseason, I do believe it's going to be a good year for me.

Q. Just curious how challenging is it to play against someone when you know they're struggling physically?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I didn't do a good job in the third and fourth set. I should have won them easier in a way, but he was hitting a lot of winners from the first shot, so I wasn't getting into the rallies. I should have probably been a bit more aggressive.

But nevertheless, again, the biggest regret I have is probably second set, not winning that, because I think, yeah, it would have changed being one set all, and then him cramping, I think that would have changed.

But we got a great battle out of it because of it, yeah.

Q. What was on your mind just knowing that...

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, I got a bit nervous. I mean, obviously I'm down two sets to love, so I don't want to lose my serve either, because then he can serve it out. Even not feeling 100%, he can still serve it out because you saw how hard he was hitting his forehand, how well he was hitting his backhand.

You know, he's still a great player no matter what is happening. Yeah, so I was maybe a bit cautious, maybe a bit careful, but the rest of the match I thought I was getting into the rallies well. I was hitting the ball well, hitting quite hard also.

Yeah, again, I think it was just a great battle and overall a good match.

Q. When you do get into a fifth set with him and he has a record where he's only ever lost one five-set match, is that something you're aware of at all?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I don't know, but I know my five-set record is quite good, as well. But, no, of course not. It's not something you think about 5-4 serving.

I had other thoughts in my mind. You know, basically I didn't want to fall over in the match.

No, it's not something I think about, but yeah, I know that he's fit, I know that he's very, very strong and hard to beat in long matches. He's proven that last year in Paris, I think, as well against Jannik.

I always feel like on the physical side I'm quite okay as well. Yeah, in the end, of course, I was a bit more tired than him.

Q. On that, were you surprised how well he was able to come back physically in the fifth set having struggled so much in the third?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, he took like an hour and a half off (smiling) where he wasn't moving almost at all. So again, maybe I should have used that better in a way. Maybe I should have won the games and won the sets a bit quicker.

Then moving into the fifth, maybe he wouldn't have had so much time to recover. But the fifth set, the way he was moving, was incredible again.