"I don’t get as much love as Jannik Sinner, but most of the crowd is Italian": Alexander Zverev jokingly surprised at crowd love

Alexander Zverev admitted he is still searching for his best level despite booking his place in the quarter-finals at the Monte-Carlo Masters, pointing instead to his resilience and steady improvement across the opening rounds.

The German, who came through a testing schedule following a three-set battle the previous day, felt his performance marked a clear step forward at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

“Look, I’m not playing well yet, I’m not playing well here in Monaco yet, but I’m in the quarter-finals, that’s all that matters at the moment,” Zverev said to Tennis Channel. “It’s a big step up from yesterday. Yesterday, I really didn’t play well, but I managed today much, much better, and yeah, I’m looking forward to tomorrow as well.”

A key sign of that progress came on his forehand side, particularly during crucial moments in the second set. Zverev highlighted the importance of that shot on clay and expects it to continue improving as he builds rhythm.

“I feel like on clay, the forehand is probably the most important shot out of anything else, and that’s the shot I need the most rhythm on, that’s the shot I need the most time on,” he explained. “So probably it will get better the more I play on clay. Today definitely was a lot better. Yesterday it was not there at all, so I’m happy with the improvement. I’m happy that it’s going in the right direction, it’s going the right way, and I hope tomorrow it’s going to be even better.”

His ability to problem-solve had already been tested in his previous match, where he recovered from a difficult position in the deciding set. Zverev remained confident he would get opportunities to turn the match around.

“For me, in my opinion, he’s somebody that plays extremely well from the baseline, but doesn’t have a massive serve, so I knew that I was going to get chances to break back,” he said. “I broke back straight away after going a break down, and then he was struggling physically quite a lot, so I knew that maybe nerves would creep in when he had to serve it out against a top-three player in the world.”

Zverev capitalised as expected. “That’s exactly what happened. He threw in a double fault, he threw in an easy forehand miss, I managed to come back to 5-4, and after that I played, I would say, perfect three games to finish the match.”

Despite the quick turnaround between matches, Zverev insisted that the rhythm of consecutive days on court is something players of his generation are comfortable with.

“We’re used to it, I think that’s what we’re used to,” he said. “The older guys, that’s what we had all the time growing up. We didn’t have two-week events at the Masters except Indian Wells and Miami, so this was normal for us.”

He added that many players actually prefer the shorter format. “I feel like a lot of us players prefer it. We don’t necessarily want a day off, we don’t necessarily want to spend more time than we need away from home, even though this is home for most of us. It’s best of three, not best of five, so physically we have to be all right here.”

Monte-Carlo holds additional significance for Zverev, who enjoys the comfort of familiar surroundings during the tournament.

“I think the crowd support is always nice, it’s always important,” he said. “I don’t get as much love as Jannik Sinner, but most of the crowd is Italian, so I think that is normal. But yeah, I enjoy just spending time in my own bed also, sleeping in my own bed, being in my own apartment, I think it’s special.”

Next up is a quarter-final clash with rising Brazilian talent João Fonseca, a first meeting between the two.

“I’m very excited to play this young, up-and-coming talent that everybody talks about,” Zverev said. “I think he’s going to be a great player, he’s going to be among us for multiple, multiple years to come, probably longer than me because I’m ten years older than him. But yeah, I’m excited about it.”

For now, Zverev’s focus remains simple, continue building form, maintain momentum, and take another step forward in Monte-Carlo.