Zverev challenges the dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner: “Not many of you believed in this”

No matter what happens on Sunday, it is a reality that Alexander Zverev has found a way to impose his consistency in this 2026. The Race says so, and his three consecutive Grand Slam finals confirm it.

Surely he didn't arrive at this US Open with his highest level of confidence, but there he is again in the final, fighting for another Grand Slam title, overpowering every opponent he faced along the way. Before knowing who his last opponent in New York will be, the German reviewed some interesting topics with the press, even taking the liberty of leaving a message for all those who didn't think he would be this high at this point in the season.

Zverev analyzes his victory over Khachanov

“Victory in three sets, but far from easy. He played incredibly well and fought incredibly hard. The second and third sets could have gone either way. I simply played some points better here and there, and I’m happy with the victory.”

Improving throughout the tournament

“I think the improvement has been quite dramatic for me. It’s something fantastic because I started the tournament thinking: ‘This makes no sense, I’m not going to achieve anything here’, and here I am, sitting and preparing for a final on Sunday. Things like this can happen in sports and tennis. Overall, things can change very quickly, for better or worse. Luckily, for me, it was for the better. Now I’m going to do everything possible to prepare for Sunday.”

Alexander Zverev explains why he bounces the ball so much before serving

“I have no idea why. I don’t do it on purpose. I saw the statistic: I’ve bounced the ball about 12,000 times or something like that. It’s quite funny. I’m not counting them in my head, nor am I trying to reach a specific number. I don’t know why it has increased so much. I think today it went down again because I saw it before the semifinal and thought: ‘Okay, it has to be less’. Then I forget about it once in a while, and it goes back up to I don’t know what number. I have no idea what makes me stop and think: ‘Okay, I’ve served now and I can serve’. Honestly, I have no idea.”

Zverev reveals how he has changed since his first Grand Slam final

“A lot has happened. I’ve played other finals and many important matches since then. At that time, of course, it was my first Grand Slam final. I was inexperienced; I was still a young guy, I would say. Now everything is different. I’m quite sure the atmosphere will be very, very different on Sunday, regardless of who I play against. I’m looking forward to it. I think it will be fantastic to play a final in a packed Arthur Ashe, not in an empty one.”

Tiafoe or Shelton in Sunday’s final

“Frances is someone who can do anything with a tennis ball. He can be aggressive, but he can also play a little bit with you. He can be tough to play against, for sure. I have a lot of respect for him, and we’ve known each other for almost 20 years. Ben is simply a big, powerful player. He has a huge serve, massive groundstrokes. Everything he does is big. They are slightly different styles of tennis, but I think both are very exciting. I like these kinds of environments. I’ve always said it. I’ve played against French players in France, and I think the most hostile crowd, if you can call it that, is when you play against a Frenchman in Bercy. It was quite intense, and I always enjoyed those environments. For me, a loud and energetic crowd is always fantastic, as long as it’s fair and doesn’t interrupt during points.”

Zverev responds to all those who doubted his level

“I think it hasn't changed much, to be honest. Of course, winning a Grand Slam was the ultimate goal, but now we want more. We want to achieve greater things. We continue to work very hard to do so, and we are very focused on it. I think everyone still has a goal in mind. I believed it was possible. I think not many of you believed it. The question was always whether Carlos and Jannik were going to play all four Grand Slam finals against each other again. That’s a completely legitimate question considering how the last two years had gone. I’m happy with how this year has gone so far, but I have another big match on Sunday, and that’s my goal.”

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Zverev desafía el dominio de Alcaraz y Sinner: “No muchos de vosotros creíais en ello”