ROLAND GARROS

May 24, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/B. Bonzi

6-3, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, how happy were you to win in three sets on such a hot day?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Phenomenal. It was an awesome day.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. What are you most happy about today in your performance?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think it was a good start. It's sometimes as simple as that. I won in three sets. It was an opening match against an opponent who can make it difficult against good players. He's shown that in the past, and I handled it well.

That's what I'm the most happy about.

Q. I understand you do it instinctively, but can you break down your sliding technique for me?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: My sliding technique (smiling)? I don't know. I just run, hopefully fast enough, and then I see the ball and I slide to it (smiling). What exactly...

Q. Well, for tennis viewers it looks so beautiful and so natural, especially on clay, given the surface. I imagine as a child you may have practiced it religiously?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, because that's why Europeans are probably better on clay than Americans or Australians, because that's what we grew up on. It's the more natural move for us. That's how we move on a tennis court.

We move through sliding. We move through the slippery surface better, because we're used to it. As a kid, you know, nobody can really teach you how to slide. You do it instinctively at some point and naturally at some point.

If you of course grow up on the surface and you learned how to do it, or not learn how to do it, but you did it from a young age, you do it automatically. That's why most of the Europeans nowadays, you look at Jannik, who is an extreme, or Carlos, an extreme, on hard courts, they move like on clay. They slide, slide two shots, they slide for dropshots, they slide to forehands, backhands.

I do that, as well. Medvedev is another one who is an extreme. He does it on hard courts, as well. Those are all European players, because we grew up on this slippery surface which made us learn how to move on a tennis court in a certain way, I think.

Again, if you would ask me to break down how I do it, I would have no idea how I do it. It's just I see a ball, I have to get there, I slide to it. That's how I feel like everybody would explain it.