CHINA OPEN

September 30, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the press conference of Alexander Zverev. We'll go straight to questions.

Q. Sascha, you've played this tournament obviously multiple times in your career. I'm curious how you've seen the tournament change over time from when you first started coming here till now. What do you make of any changes this year?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I think since COVID the site has just improved. I mean, we have a brand-new building, brand-new restaurants. We have a lot more space.

I think the tournament has always been good, but now it's exceptional. That's great to see. I think the tournament has evolved quite a lot outside of just the tennis courts.

Q. The battle for No. 1 is ongoing as the season comes to an end. How much of that is in your mind at the moment? How much of a goal is that?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think it's a goal for anyone. I think in the beginning of the season everybody expected that battle to be between Carlos and Jannik, so I'm very pleased that I'm in that conversation (smiling).

Of course, yeah, there's some of it in my head. Again, I think I've said it so many times this year, the only thing that I can control is play good tennis, play well on the court, try to feel well on the court, try to do everything I can to prepare myself to play good tennis. Everything else will fall into place. Yeah, in my control, out of my control... There's certain factors there, as well.

So yeah, I'm just going to try to focus to win the matches that I can.

Q. For many years people wondered when you'll win your first Grand Slam. This year you won the French Open and the American Open. How has your mindset change? Did you feel any different about winning these two Grand Slams?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think I've said it before. I think after winning the French Open, your mind changes because you feel like you've won one. Straight after the French Open, I made it to the finals of Wimbledon. I really felt like I can win again.

Before winning your first one, especially at my age, I was 29 years old, I still am 29 years old, you have question marks whether it's ever going to happen or not.

But those questions marks are not there anymore. As you could probably see on the court, as well, I was enjoying New York a lot more than I was enjoying French Open.

In French Open I had a lot of stress in me. I had a lot of nerves in me. Whereas in New York, I was just enjoying being there. I was enjoying being in the finals of Grand Slams.

I really felt different there than I did the previous Grand Slams.

Q. After so much success this year, what do you think has been working in your training? What are you looking to implement in your approach here in Beijing?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Implement here is difficult because I just arrived yesterday, so I had one training session. I'm going to play a match tomorrow.

But I think just generally my game style and how I was playing tennis this year has changed a lot. I've said it before. Me and my team, we sat down together and we decided to play different tennis this year. I think it proved to be the right thing to do. It proved to be beneficial for me.

Of course, I'm going to continue doing that. I'm going to continue working on certain things. I think there's certain things that other players do better than me, and I'm going to try to improve them.

Q. Do you want to say something to your Chinese fans? Do you feel any different when you come back this year?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Again, I've only been here for one day. I hope the crowd will be great tomorrow. I always come back here to Beijing when I get the chance. I love playing here. I love playing in front of my Chinese fans. I hope they'll get to feel that on the court, as well.