Alexander Zverev feels like he has improved a lot recently which contributed to him narrowing the gap between Djokovic and himself.
The German defeated Djokovic at the Tokyo Olympics in a dramatic comeback and that was the turning point for Zverev in his season. The German has improved a lot recently and he feels like that gap has become narrower to the top. Asked about it he said:
“I can only ever speak of myself, but I think that I have improved my game a lot in the last few years. I don't only see that when I play against Novak, I also see that when I play against others."
But Zverev also explained that other players have improved as well. He used Djokovic as an example saying:
“I also talked about this with Novak. Novak feels like he is still at the highest point of his career. He also told me that he is serving better now than he ever served before. He sees his tennis game as good as he used to see it. He has no problems from the baseline, so I already think we're improving."
On his own game Zverev said that he has become much calmer than before:
"I've become much calmer. I'm also getting older. I'm not 18 or 19 anymore. I understand maybe a bit more things about life and understand that you just have to keep calm in important situations. That has had its effect on me this year. But the biggest improvement I've made is my second serve. I haven't had any matches in the last six months where I served 20 double faults."