"I enjoy the atmosphere" - admits Zverev after another strong win in Melbourne

Zverev cruised past John Millman rather easily but most of the time he played against the Australian and the fans. Naturally, people in Melbourne backed Millman for the upset but Zverev handled it fairly well. He admitted after the match that he doesn't mind the crowd being against him as he simply enjoys the atmosphere of a crowd fully in tune with the match.

He said:

“Sport needs atmosphere and the people. It doesn’t matter if you are for me or against me, I enjoy the atmosphere and I enjoy being on court in front of all of you guys. I think spectators bring the emotions, and sport without spectators is like sport without emotions, so I think it is incredible to play in front of everybody.”

Asked about his mentality for the match, Zverev admited it was quite smiple. He said:

“My tactic today was to hit the ball as hard as possible. Hopefully, I can hit it even harder in the next match and then the next match and then even harder against Rafa!”

It's clear Zverev is gearing up for a match against Nadal in the next few rounds and he will need to hit the ball very hard if he hopes to beat him.