ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 15, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Mixed Zone

A. ZVEREV/A. de Minaur

6-4, 6-4

Q. You served very well, managed to keep Alex pretty far from the court, his flat ball was not giving you problems, so perfect match on your side.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I think, especially from the baseline it was quite a good match. I think on a surface like that he's really difficult to play because how fast he is and how flat he plays, the ball bounces through the court a lot.

I feel like today the level was a lot higher from my end than the last couple of matches. I'm definitely satisfied with the increase in level.

Q. Did you feel better with your ankle today than the last match when you were serving, when you were loading on it?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I feel like today I was doing things outside of physicality so well that I didn't need to be so physical. The longer the match goes, the worse my ankle gets.

I feel like today I was able to play so quickly that I didn't have to play long rallies, I didn't have to play a lot of physical points.

On the serve, I feel my ankle the most, but it comes from the physicality of the rallies beforehand. So, if that is not there, then it feels better on my serve as well.

Q. It's your right ankle?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yes.

Q. And then, after the match was finished, you had a very brief exchange with the umpire. What was that about?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Not at all. He was telling me to look at the shot clock when I was serving. Yeah, I mean, I don't know why, but I'm bouncing the ball a lot this year (laughing).

It started at the US Open. I don't know why it started. I'm very well aware of it, and I'm trying to work on it. I feel like, yeah, it is a bit unnecessary from my end.

I felt like today, especially on my serve, I was very quickly between the points, and I was waiting for him to get a towel quite a lot. Then he was there with, let's say, 10 seconds to go, and then I bounce the ball, go through my routine, which takes a little bit of time, and then I am very close to running out of the shot clock. But I feel like if I would have started it earlier, then I would be better on time.

Q. You're facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, a player that you have good history against. What are you expecting from that match?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I feel like he's playing really well, especially here in Asia right now, he's playing unbelievably well. He won a tournament, as well as now he's in the semifinals.

So, yeah, I'm expecting a very high-level match from him, and hopefully from me as well, and I'm looking forward to the tough challenge ahead.

Q. Just about the bouncing ball, I'm wondering if you have a number in your mind, or you just go when it feels right to you?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I just go when it feels right. But if you noticed, I am doing it less than I did in New York. I think it was going to an extreme for me in New York.

I was not aware of it because my phone was off, I didn't see social media and all that. I was only aware of it after, and I'm trying to work on it, for sure.

Q. As long as it works though.

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, but, you know, there's certain things that I feel like have to do with fairness of the game and not distracting your opponent, and if I'm doing something that my opponents feel like I distract them, I don't want to do it. I want to win with tennis, that's what I do.