Un "classique" de l'ancienne NextGen opposait Alexander Zverev à Stefanos Tsitsipas vendredi, en quarts du Rolex Paris Masters. Les deux hommes se connaissent par coeur puisqu'ils se sont affrontés à 15 reprises. Plus en confiance, l'Allemand a su contrôler le Grec, 7-5, 6-4. La bataille a été intense mais c'est Zverev qui a été capable de dicter sa loi. Le 3e mondial n'a concédé qu'une balle de break dans la partie et a d'ailleurs su la sauver. Costaud et favori pour le titre, Zverev avance et se retrouve en demies, sa troisième à Bercy après 2020 et 2021, sa 20e en Masters 1000.
Photo : @RolexParisMasters
Photo : @RolexParisMasters
Category
🥇
SportTranscription
00:00Sasha, Stefanos said that from all the players that he played this year, you are the one
00:09who made the most improvement in your game, in your all-around game since last year where
00:14he beat you.
00:15Do you agree with that?
00:20I think Yannick Sinner has something to say against that, but I'm happy he feels this
00:26way.
00:28That's a big compliment from me, from his side, so thank you to him for that.
00:34But I'm trying, I'm working on things, I'm trying different things for sure.
00:40Tennis doesn't stop, you have to continue finding new ways to improve and you see by
00:45how Yannick and Carlos are playing right now, tennis is becoming so fast and so aggressive
00:51that you need to find ways to improve your game.
00:55You've played 84 matches this year until now, there will be the ATP Finals next, maybe
01:05two more matches, sure, maybe two more matches in this tournament.
01:08Do you know who is the player who played the most single matches in one season during the
01:13history of tennis and how many matches?
01:15In the history of tennis?
01:16Yes.
01:17Modern.
01:18Yevgeny Kofelnikov.
01:191-0-6 in 19...
01:20It's him?
01:21No.
01:22Oh no?
01:23Vilas.
01:24Guillermo Vilas in 77, 150.
01:25150 matches?
01:26150 matches.
01:27Well I'm never going to play 150 matches in a year.
01:28So my question is, how do you feel after 84 matches?
01:29I've had this question actually today during a TV press conference and I've said, you know,
01:30the first six months of the year were fantastic for me, so I did play a lot of matches there.
01:31I was winning quite a lot, which is great, and I was going from 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3,
01:320-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3,
01:330-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3,
01:340-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3,
01:350-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3, 0-2-3.
02:06So, actually, I feel fine.
02:08I feel motivated to find my game again and to kind of improve also.
02:13So, actually, I'm playing matches.
02:15I'm practicing before the matches.
02:16I'm practicing after the matches every day because I want to improve
02:21and I want to get better and, you know, achieve the big goals that I still have.
02:27And to your question, I feel okay.
02:29I feel fine.
02:31Sascha, congratulations.
02:32Great win, and you're looking better than, let's say, from 2020
02:37when you reached the finals here.
02:39I'm interested in your opinion on, let's say, this notion of the big three in tennis
02:45because we're probably looking at the duopoly now of Sinner and Alcaraz
02:49and whether this relationship can drive them towards huge successes
02:55like was the case with Novak, Rafa, and Roger.
02:58You, with the high goals that you have and you just mentioned,
03:02do you think that you are the number three there, not the third,
03:07but the third person in this new triangle that could make the change
03:12in the imminent history of tennis in the coming years?
03:18I mean, for sure, they're number one and two right now.
03:21You can see that they both won two Grand Slams this year,
03:24so there's no question about that.
03:27Even if I finish ahead of Carlos this year, which is still a possibility,
03:33I still believe that they're number one and two
03:35just by the things that they have achieved.
03:40I think in my case, because I'm a bit older, it's different.
03:46I feel like by the end of 2021, I was one of the best players in the world.
03:53I felt like Novak, Daniil, and myself were kind of sharing the big turners
03:59between us in 2021, especially the last six months.
04:03I won the gold medal, Novak won Wimbledon, Daniil won the US Open,
04:08I won the World Tour Finals, so it was kind of shared.
04:11I feel like I was going towards this direction
04:16of becoming maybe number one in the world in 2022,
04:20when I started the season very well.
04:23In the French Open, I felt like it was my chance
04:27to maybe win my first Grand Slam and to become world number one,
04:31because I would have become world number one in that tournament.
04:34But then it happened what happened, and it kind of went out of my control.
04:42I always say I took a two-year break from being one of the best players in the world.
04:47I took a two-year break from being a contender at Grand Slams,
04:51because in 2022, obviously, I didn't play anymore,
04:54and 2023 was my comeback season.
04:57I was not a contender for winning Grand Slams.
04:59I was not a contender for winning big tournaments.
05:01I was trying my best, I was working hard,
05:04but for me to win a big title was very far away still.
05:09So I do feel like this season is the first season, again,
05:13after about two, two and a half years, where I was a contender.
05:18And again, I'm still trying to improve things.
05:20I'm still trying to get better, and hopefully next year
05:23we'll look a little bit different than this year with the big titles,
05:27and hopefully I can play a role in it as well.
05:30This is my goal still.
05:33Hi, Sacha.
05:35You had some trouble with your lung the past few weeks, few months.
05:39How do you feel? Did you recover fully?
05:42And are you at 100% now for the end of the season,
05:45because you're looking great this week in Paris?
05:47I don't know.
05:48I have to go to do the scans and do the tests.
05:51I'm doing this after this week.
05:53I'm going to Berlin to do the tests.
05:57I do feel okay. I feel fine.
05:59But they also told me, the doctors told me,
06:02you'll gradually get better, but to be back at 100% will take a few months,
06:06because this is not something that just goes away like an illness
06:08within one or two weeks, and then that's it.
06:10It will take a few months, but I feel okay.
06:13I feel not like I'm getting super tired on the court,
06:16or I struggle to breathe.
06:18But also, to be fair, the court here is so fast
06:21that there's rarely any long rallies.
06:24So I think that is maybe helping me this week a little bit as well.
06:29What did you need to practice after the match, and how long did it take?
06:34There is just a plan that I have,
06:38what I want to improve until the Australian Open.
06:40And it's not about the match.
06:42It's not about today. It's not about yesterday.
06:44It's not to improve for tomorrow.
06:46For me, it's to improve for the Australian Open.
06:49I have a few things that I feel like other players are doing better than me,
06:53and I want to improve on those things.