CHINA OPEN

October 5, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Mixed Zone

N. DJOKOVIC/A. Zverev

4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Q. Comment on the match. I don't know if you already spoke a bit with your team about the match.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I think generally speaking it was quite a good match. I think it was difficult for me to hit a lot of winners because it was quite cold out there and the ball wasn't very bouncy.

I think probably Novak, one of the best matches he played this year, for sure. I think the level was really high.

Q. This year you improved a lot about being offensive in the pressure points. In the third set in the key moments there were more rallies. I don't know if you wanted to be more aggressive.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Again, it was 11 degrees out there. I tried to be as aggressive as I can. It's the way it is.

Q. In terms of what you were impressed by or surprised by from Novak. Maybe in the past few months he hasn't brought that level consistently through the match. What were you impressed with?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think his serving today was standing out a lot. I think he got out of a lot of tough situations, especially in the second and third set, with serve.

I think that his baseline game was basically the way it was five years ago. I mean, he barely missed. It was very, very flat, very through the court a lot.

I think, yeah, probably either the best or second best match he played this year. I think this one and the one with Jannik in Australia, those matches stand out. I think it was very, very different level than we saw in the last couple of months from him.

Q. You have so many fans in the China Open. They cheered for you. Do you want to say something to them?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, they were great.

Q. With Novak, he said you're playing really well this year. Heading into Shanghai, in a few days, the rest of the season, how are you approaching that?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I mean, again, I think I had a tough one here, for sure. It's a loss that I could have avoided. I had chances to win this match.

But I think Novak was at his very best today. Going to trust my abilities in Shanghai. Hopefully I can play even better there and definitely have a better result there.