US Open Champion Alex Zverev

Came to New York looking to finish some unfinished business and he did just that. Please welcome the 2026 U.S. Open champion, Alexander Zvedev. There it is. Incredible. Yeah, special to have it. So what should we call you? Alexander, Sasha, Alexander, Alexander, yes. It seems to all of us that it didn't appear that you knew you won. That is true. Yeah, I didn't know. I thought the score was 5-1 instead of 6-2. You can see it there. Games match Zvedev, 3-1. I kind of was focused on playing the next game. The next game. I thought I had one more game to go. Oh, you won? That's a different kind of celebration than what I expected. Definitely. That's never happened before. So it's very unique. You had your second Grand Slam title. Your first one was the French this past year. So two in a row or two this year. Do you think it was after you won the first one, it made the second one a little bit easier because you'd been there before? Yeah, for sure, because I was always known as the player that kind of won on every level in tennis then except the Grand Slam. So at the French Open in Roland Garros, you know, I felt a lot of stress and I felt a lot of pressure, you know, winning your first Grand Slam title because I'm also I'm not young anymore. I'm twenty nine years old. You know, I'm not. No. Well, in tennis terms. Alexander, pace yourself. In tennis terms, I mean. But so I was never quite sure whether I was ever going to win one. And then after I won the French Open, I kind of, you know, all that pressure just came off. It unlocked something. Yeah, it relaxed me. And I felt a lot of joy being out on the court. And I felt a lot of joy being out on big stadium courts. And of course, winning your second Grand Slam within three months is special. Tell us about the crowd in New York City or the U.S. Open crowds. How are they different from the other crowds? Well, I loved it. I mean, obviously, 99 percent of the people want to bend to win, which I completely understand. The USA has been waiting for a Grand Slam champion for 23 years now. And we're obviously in New York. So, of course, they want the Americans to win. I totally understand it. But I still felt like the American crowd was was very fair. Right. They didn't interrupt play. They didn't kind of interfere with my service. Motion didn't interfere with my game. So I like I like energetic crowd. I like when it's loud. And that's exactly what New York was. And that's what it's known for. You resemble you resemble our nephew. So we had a real soft spot for you. Yes. The whole thing. Yes. We really did. OK. So what one of the first things you did after you won was you went over to Ben's dad. And you shared a moment with him. Do you all know each other very well? What did you say to him? Yeah, of course. We know each other well because we travel the tour for 11 months a year. Right. Like we we see each other more than we probably see our families, our partners, girlfriends, whatever. Right. And for me, I have a very soft spot for for Ben and for his entire crew, because it's also a family affair. Very similar to to me and my father, you know, who's been my coach for my entire career. And it's the same thing for Ben and his father. Right. So I just went over there and I told him, I'm pretty sure that you guys are going to win the Grand Slam title very, very soon. You know, he's a young guy. He's improving a lot. And I think he's going to be the next American Grand Slam champion. Yeah. Speaking of a family affair, I watched when you spoke about your when you spoke about your mother yesterday. Can you tell us a little bit about that? It was such a beautiful moment. Yeah, it's it's you know, you have to go back a little bit to the past. You know, I think. As a mother, when your four year old child gets diagnosed with diabetes and then obviously 20 years ago, diabetes is very different now because technology involved and and medicine involved as well. 20 years ago, professional sports and generally something very active was very limited to diabetes. And that's what doctors were telling my mother. And as a child, you don't really realize what's happening. You know, you know, you know, you got to inject yourself. You know, you got to. So scary to a needle is scary. Yeah, I wasn't I wasn't particularly scared of needles, but I think it's more scary for the parents because you don't know what life for your child will look like. And my mother, luckily enough, she is and was a very, very strong person always and was very stubborn, a little bit like me. And she always said to the doctors, if my child wants to play tennis, he'll play tennis. And if my child wants to do something else, he'll do something else. And she kind of never listened. And I'm happy. I'm happy that she didn't. Yeah. Us too. Yeah. Have you been to sleep yet? Are you going to go to sleep soon? I have not slept yet, as you can hear by my voice. Alexander, I played a little tennis this past summer. And I still have tennis elbow. Maybe we can talk during a commercial about a little therapy for me. Yeah, you can help me out. Just just don't play tennis. It's fine. Congratulations to Mistake Performance, your classic hit for reason.