THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 8, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/T. Fritz

6-4, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, you've made it to the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time. Give us your thoughts on how you're feeling right now.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, happy to be in the semifinals, for sure. I think especially against someone like Taylor, who I've struggled with over the past two years, it's been a pretty one-sided tennis match that always went his way.

Very pleased with how I played. To be in the semifinals is great.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How much of this is just your growing comfort on grass? How much of it is confidence coming off Roland Garros?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I think winning Roland Garros definitely helps for sure. There's no question about it.

But I think, yeah, I mean, I changed my game a bit for grass. It's working quite well this year. I spoke about it the previous matches. My return position, my position generally on court, has changed. I tried it the last couple of years, but I never felt comfortable doing it. This year feels a bit different. Of course, I'm very pleased and very happy about that.

Q. Your semifinal opponent is a guy who has surprised a lot of people. Do you know much about him? What do you expect playing a Brit on Centre?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, the first time I watched him play was actually in Australia. He beat Cobolli in the first round. I watched that match. I was very impressed back then already. He has a very clean technique and very clean groundstrokes. I thought he was a very good tennis player already back then.

Of course, it's maybe a surprise a little bit that he's in the semifinals. But I think he deserves it. The wins that he had, the way he fought back in a couple of those matches, is great to see. It's a great story.

The second part of your question, I'm very happy to play him in the semifinals. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere. Of course, I know that 99% of the people will be cheering for him. But I also enjoy those kind of atmospheres. I enjoy when the energy is very high.

For me, British crowds, the crowd here at Wimbledon, is always quite fair. They cheer loud, energetic, but they're still fair. I look forward to that challenge.

Q. You said that you weren't comfortable with the changes you were making in your game the last couple of years here. Now you are. Do you have any sense of why it has become comfortable this year, whether it's conditions or confidence?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I felt very good here in 2024. I was very open about it. Until I got injured with my knee. I felt really good.

Last year honestly I didn't have time to feel comfortable. I lost first round to a great opponent, to somebody who served incredible.

This year the difference is I played someone very similar in the first round and I won. After that, felt much better in the second round, better in the third round, and so on. Sometimes it's just a little bit of matches. I think it's also confidence. On grass, you need confidence to play well on this surface.

I think the months before coming into Wimbledon, I think they just helped.

Q. Is there anything you can take from two years ago? You beat Cam Norrie on Centre. Obviously this is a semifinal, but can you draw any experience on being up against a Brit?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Again, I'm almost 30 years old. I've been on tour for long enough. I feel like I've seen the most hostile crowds, I've seen tough crowds, I've seen unfair crowds as well. I feel like I should know how to handle it, I've learned how to handle it. I'm okay with it.

Again, I always feel like the English crowd here, especially in London, they're always quite fair. Yes, they can be loud, they can be cheerful, but that's okay. I don't mind it at all.

So yeah, I just look forward to a tough challenge in the semifinals of a slam.

Q. What sort of preparation will you do in terms of trying to work out how he might play against you? I realize you saw him play against Cobolli. He's relatively still a new name.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think me and my team will look into it. We'll watch some videos, watch some footage, for sure.

Again, I think it's no surprise I didn't watch loads of him play. I never played with him. But he's played a fantastic tournament. He absolutely deserves to be in the semifinals.

I'm going to do everything I can to prepare as well as I can and to play the best match I can.

Q. Arthur's got this far kind of playing nothing to lose, has maybe surprised some of his opponents. Generally you've been good at avoiding some of those upsets. How do you manage that dynamic where you go in as a huge favorite and balance sort of not being complacent but also being confident and kind of showing that?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Well, I've had my fair bits of upsets over the years, to be honest (smiling). But this year, yeah, I've been okay.

Again, I think people maybe overthink it. It's just another tennis match. Of course, it's a big match. There's a lot on the line. It's a Wimbledon final on the line. I think both of us, we both know that, for sure.

But in the end of the day, I've learned that a tennis match is a tennis match. Nobody will die. Their lives will not be drastically changed. We'll continue living.

I'll just try to play my best tennis. There's nothing more to it.

Q. I realize you haven't seen that much of Arthur play. From what you have seen, do you feel like grass is potentially the surface where he could have the most success?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I think quite obviously so, right? Semifinals of Wimbledon. It's very difficult to get to. For sure, this is the best result. He's going to be, what, probably top 50 after this week. I think the results speak for itself in a way.

Again, he's quite new on tour. Maybe he will surprise us on a hard court, maybe he'll surprise us on a clay court next year. We don't know.

But for now, there's no question about it.