THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 4, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/M. Giron

6-2, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, through to the second week. Straight sets. You must be feeling pretty good.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah. Definitely happy about the match. I think he played also a fantastic match. I managed to win in three sets, which is helpful, I think for me, also for the future matches and for the future rounds.

Happy to be through.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Are there any particular rules for you with the diabetes, with jabbing yourself? Are you able to jab yourself on the court or do you go off court?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I do it on court. I think everybody sees it. I did it today, as well.

Q. Are you aware of the kind of significance that the diabetes community, the impact you're having?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, of course. Look, I've said it many times. I have a foundation for kids with diabetes. I was once a kid who just got diagnosed with diabetes. I had parents whose kid got diagnosed with diabetes 20-plus years ago.

If we as a foundation, and me just as a tennis player and somebody who has diabetes, can help even just a single kid or a single parent, I'll be the happiest person in the world.

Of course, I think I'm not the only one. I think there's a lot of great role models with diabetes these days. I think there's a lot of great athletes, there's a lot of actors, musicians, who have diabetes.

I think it shows that, yeah, with diabetes there shouldn't be any limits. You can always dream about the biggest things in the world, and really achieve them.

Q. Do you hear from fans, letters, messages?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, of course. That's what the foundation is also about. Again, we are very close contact with a lot of parents. We're very close contact also with a lot of hospitals, programs where a lot of times - and I was also one of those kids.

Kids with diabetes, they're not allowed to go on school trips where you have to sleep over because teachers don't want to take the responsibility. So we organize a lot of replacements for those kids where they're guided with people who know what diabetes is.

So yeah, we hear a lot about that.

For me, the biggest part about - sorry, I mean, that was your question so I'm just going to talk. The biggest part about my foundation is that unfortunately not every country in this world is as well-developed as Europe or the United Kingdom, America, all of that. A lot of times a lot of places in the world or regions in the world, when a kid gets diabetes, he doesn't survive this illness for longer than a couple of days.

We're able to provide more than 1,200 kids with medicine and the necessary tools to survive with diabetes already a year, so that's the thing I think I'm the most proud of.

Q. It's the fourth round now, equaling your best. Do you think there's a sense of the authority you carry now being a major winner that is helping you at the moment, or just that you're getting more used to the surface?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think what helps me the most right now is that I'm playing better. It's as simple as that sometimes. I'm playing a lot better than I have done the previous years here at Wimbledon.

Yes, of course winning the French Open helps with confidence. I think anybody would always sign up to come to Wimbledon as the French Open champion, right? Of course, it is very helpful for me.

As you said, the fourth round is as far as I've gotten. But for me, I feel like this year for some reason the tournament is kind of just getting started. I'm happy with where I am. I'm happy with the way I'm playing. Of course I want to continue doing so.

Q. There's a heck of a lot of emotional and physical toil that goes into what you achieved, yet you seem fine. Is that the case physically?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think emotionally, yeah, you do get fatigued a little bit. But I'm also close to 30 years old. I've been on tour for quite a while. I know how to deal with the biggest ups and the biggest downs in a way. I think that comes with age.

I love this quote, I don't remember who said it, but: In tennis you have to have a short-term memory, whether it's good or bad. When it's bad, you have an opportunity the next week. When it's good, you have a Grand Slam two weeks later.

You have to kind of focus on being in the moment and trying to play your best tennis, yeah, right now.

Q. A lot of players use the crowd to sort of help, use it strategically. How do you feel about that? Do you think about using it as a strategy?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I don't think about it much. I think everybody's entitled to do whatever they feel like. If it helps them, that's great. I think it's always exciting to get the crowd involved, for sure.

I think I'm a player that is more on the calmer, quieter side of things when it gets to crowd involvement. When I was younger, I was the complete opposite. Again, I think the more you are on tour, the more time you spend here, the calmer you get.

But yeah, I feel like everybody's entitled to do whatever they feel is right.

Q. Did it ever bother you?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, no. Again, I'm old enough, I think.

Q. What made you choose sausage dogs?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Well, we have two poodles. I didn't really have a choice. It wasn't my choice. But now since we got two of them, I really want to have a big dog at some point. I want to have like a Doberman or a German shepherd. Until then, I choose the smallest dog with the biggest personality. He thinks he's literally a Rottweiler.

He definitely has the personality of a big dog, but he's actually unbelievably friendly - surprisingly. Normally Dachshunds, they're very territorial, very jealous of their owner. He is very jealous of me, funny enough.

We have the two poodles. When the two poodles try to kiss me or come too close, he immediately gets in the way of them, immediately puts his nose in front of them so they can't get to me.

With people he's super friendly, so I'm very happy about that. And we got very lucky.