Roger Federer always finds a way, it's not a surprise that he's playing this well: Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev advanced to the Round of 16 at Roland Garros in convincing fashion on Friday, getting the better of Laslo Djere in straight sets. And during his press conference after the win, Zverev was probed on a variety of topics - from Roger Federer's campaign in Paris this year to how players can be misinterpreted by the media at times.
Roger Federer reached the third round at Roland Garros on Thursday by beating former World No. 3 Marin Cilic in four sets. Although Federer hasn't played much on clay over the past few years, he was in top form in the second round, hitting 16 aces and 47 winners past the Croat.
Against that background, Alexander Zverev asserted on Friday that Roger Federer is just proving yet again how he can overcome his physical limitations with ease. The German added that while Federer being in top form didn't surprise him, his quick movement and nimble footwork did.
"Roger Federer always finds a way," Zverev said. "You couldn't expect him to play that well, but it's not a surprise. What surprises me a little bit is, how well he's moving after two knee surgeries. That's incredible. Looks like he was never away."
Alexander Zverev also talked about his own match, where he broke Laslo Djere twice to win the opening set 6-2. The German then fell behind by a break in the second, but he saved three set points at 3-5 before reeling off 9 of the next 11 games to register a straight-sets victory.
Zverev expressed satisfaction with his level against Djere, and claimed that this was the best he had played in Paris so far.
"I was down 3-5, 40-0 on his serve and you don’t always come back from that score," Alexander Zverev said. "He played a fantastic match, he is playing great on this surface so I knew I had to play much, much better than the first two rounds and I did that today."
"We don't know if we're being misunderstood or not, but a lot of things we say are taken out of context" - Alexander Zverev
During the interaction, Alexander Zverev was also asked to shed some light on the experience of facing the media. In response, the German claimed that a lot of things that the pros say are often taken out of context, and added that sometimes the narrative is given more importance than the facts.
"I mean as a player, we don't know if we're being misunderstood or not, but a lot of things we say are taken out of context," Alexander Zverev said. "Because people need to sell the story, as simple as that."
"So, we sometimes say things, you know, we just jokingly say it but don't mean it in a way it comes out in a negative way," he added. "But yeah, the story is more important than what we actually think sometimes."
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