Q. Was the ankle a problem for you at all?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No. I was feeling good.
Q. Did you say earlier it was still bothering you, still swollen a little bit?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Still swollen, yeah, but something that's going to take time. It's nothing that's getting worse or anything like that. It's not in my head, and especially when I start playing I don't feel pain too much. So for me it's fine.
Q. How would you describe your preparation for today?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I have done everything, the usual, I mean, the usual way. I didn't do anything special. I had to stop one practice because of my ankle, but that's it.
Q. And the win at the end of last year, what did that mean for you, perspective, attitude, form coming into this tournament?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, surely it was a great moment and really helped, because it's one of the biggest tournaments that we have in the world. To win it gives you a lot of great confidence to beat those players, because they have a lot of great confidence, as well. And I hope I can continue doing the things I have been doing for a while.
Q. How did you feel today?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Good.
Q. Your play today seemed to improve after you went down a break in the first set. Is that kind of how it occurred out there?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously I was a little bit sloppy in the beginning, a little bit sleepy maybe, and the break really was like a wakeup call, you know, that I have to start focusing and start playing from the first match on. There is really a lot of good unseeded players here, and he's one of them. I was happy with how I could turn things around very quickly and after that the match went well.
Q. Andy Murray said yesterday that he kind of regrets trying so hard and pushing his body so hard because his hip injury is kind of the result. Since you have been on tour, pretty much all the top players have had serious injuries. Does that make you wary of how you manage your career going forward?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: No, I'll try my hardest always. I mean, if that's the question.
Q. But injuries, playing less or...
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I will do everything I can to not get injured but doesn't mean I will not try my hardest.
Q. You have had a bit of time now to settle into a new coach. Has your preparation been any different for this Grand Slam?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: It's been good. I mean, obviously Ivan is giving a lot of good advice. It's not only this Grand Slam but we worked a lot last year as well after the US Open. Things don't just come together after you start working with someone one week or two weeks. It really takes time. I hope now it's going to be the period where it really starts showing. I think in London I already showed improvements. I really hope that here I'm going to continue to kind of show the things that we have been working on.
Q. Could you just articulate what parts of your game you have been working on with Ivan?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: There is a lot of things but I'm not going to name out the things I will be working on, because a lot of people could read about it and stuff like that. It's just generally speaking there's a lot of things, you know, and it's actually very positive, because I'm No. 4 in the world, but there are a lot of things I can still improve. That's very motivating for me. Being No. 4 in the world, normally people reach their limits. No. 3 in the world, and I still feel like I have so much room and I still have so many kind of holes in my game where I can improve. This actually makes me quite happy.
Q. Your next opponent will definitely be a Frenchman. Can you talk about those potential matchups?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Humbert I don't know. Jeremy I'm pretty good friends with. We spent a lot of time at the Laver Cup together. We spent a lot of time outside the court, as well. It's going to be an interesting one. I don't know what the score is now, but I hope Jeremy can kind of pull it off and it's going to be an interesting match for us.