ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 17, 2026

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

A. DAVIDOVICH FOKINA/A. Zverev

5-7, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, bad luck today. What do you think made the difference in the end?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I think, first, I'm not a robot, I'm a human being (smiling), I get tired. It's like this.

After the US Open, I had one day off in total. I think I played a lot of tennis, which is very, very positive because that means I played well.

I think even here I had tough matches. I personally feel like I was quite flat since the Bublik match, because I was losing energy.

I played a phenomenal match against Alex de Minaur, but today I was flat. Even in the first set, even though I won the set, I was flatter, I was not reacting so well. I was returning quite badly. But I think, again, we're all human beings, even the best players in the world.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You mentioned returning, the wide serve out to the forehand gave you a bit of trouble today. Were you surprised that you were unable to counter that as the match wore on?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Oh, I mean, again, I knew that he is serving there, but I still, I think the return is the most difficult shot when you're a bit fatigued because the first thing that gets tired in tennis I think is your eyes.

I knew that the serve was going there, I was with it on the racquet most of the time, but I was missing it, I was not returning inside the court.

So, again, credit to him, he played the way he was supposed to play. He played a pretty good match, I thought.

It's okay. Like, it's okay to lose for me because I feel like I've done well. And I feel like, again, we're all human beings, we all can get a bit fatigued, it's normal.

Q. You say that you are a human being. Do you think you will take a break?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yes (laughing). I'm going to go home, I'm not going to practice. No.

Q. But for weeks?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I mean, it's Saturday now. I have 10 days, if I play Vienna. But I have to see how my body will react because I think a break is quite necessary now. But, yeah, I'll definitely take a couple of days off, for sure.

Q. After winning the two Grand Slams, do you approach losses differently now or is it the same process as usual?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think it depends on the loss. I think if I feel like I could have done something more, then it's painful for me, and it always will be painful, it doesn't change what you won in the past.

But if you feel like you've done everything that you could, and I feel like this tournament I, funny enough, I lost, yes, to Alejandro, who people will say, Oh, he's ranked 20 whatever in the world. He's playing well, first.

Second, I feel like I've actually, in a way, maybe overachieved this week because of how much tennis I played. I carried a little bit of injury, I carried fatigue into the tournament, and I'm okay to lose to a player like this today.

Q. Quarterfinal in Beijing and semifinal in Shanghai is not a bad result. What is the biggest takeaway from the trip to China?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think it was a good trip. I think I played a lot of tennis the weeks before. I'm going to repeat the same thing, I think. Beijing, I arrived one day before the tournament from the Laver Cup, and I played a fantastic match against Novak which I lost, which can happen. Here, I was a bit tired. It's how it is.

Q. A couple days ago you did mentioned you've never retired from a match except for in that one point. I wonder if today also if that even crossed your mind, or was it genuinely just fatigue, or were you ever worried at a point that you could, you know, cause some serious damage?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, actually, funny enough, my ankle in the early rounds was worse than it was today. I think today it was actually fine.

I think, again, anybody who watched the match maybe saw that I was moving a bit slower. I was maybe not running as much. But again, I'm not going to say anything new. I think it's okay. I played a lot of tennis, which is a good sign for me. And I was able to be injury-free this year, which is also a good sign for me.