French Open - 'Look at me when I'm giving you an answer' - Alexander Zverev snaps at moderator over phone

Updated 26/05/2022 at 10:28 GMT

Speaking after his gruelling French Open second-round victory over Sebastian Baez in his press conference, Alexander Zverev was irked by the moderator who looked down at their phone when he began to answer a question. "Can you at least look at me when I am giving you an answer?" asked a clearly frustrated but smiling Zverev. "Because you asked me that question and you were just on your phone."

'Look at me when I'm giving you an answer' - Zverev snaps at moderator

Alexander Zverev had some feedback for the moderator during his post-match press conference at the French Open following his second-round victory.

The German third seed faced a match point and recovered in gutsy fashion to come back from two-sets down to beat Sebastian Baez 2-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 7-5 and reach the third round at Roland-Garros.

It was a brutal encounter for Zverev so early in the tournament, but he showed impressive resilience and resolve to stage the five-set comeback and set up a match against Brandon Nakashima of the USA in the next round.

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Speaking after his victory over Baez in his press conference, the 25-year-old was clearly irked when the moderator looked down at their phone when he began to answer the opening question.

"Can you at least look at me when I am giving you an answer?" asked a visibly frustrated but smiling Zverev.

"Because you asked me that question and you were just on your phone."

Zverev spoke openly during the press conference about receiving negative comments and dealing with them from a mental health standpoint.

“You have to learn not to look at it,” Zverev said when asked about negative comments aimed his way. “But for me, my mental health does not depend on social media.

“My mental health depends on other problems I have, to be honest. I never talk about it. I think some players talk about it more often, and [are] more open. I don't like to do that, but I was struggling a lot this year.

“So, yeah, not because of social media. I was struggling a lot because of other things, so I was not happy.

“I think I was quite depressed at times, as well. So, yeah. It's all a big part. I think the pressure we are under, we are constantly in the spotlight.”

'I was struggling a lot this year' - Zverev opens up about mental health

Zverev feels the scrutiny the current crop of players are under is tougher than what previous generations of players had to deal with.

“I think players from 20, 30 years ago don't understand because now every single little thing you do, there is a camera there or someone that can comment on it or there is someone that will write about it,” he said. “30 years ago it wasn't like that.

“These days I think with social media and a lot of other platforms, there is a lot more involvement and there is a lot more hatred going on.

“That's just the world we live in right now. It's sad to see. But that's the reality because I think social media gives everybody a platform to say whatever they want, good or bad.”

Speaking on the court after wrapping up his passage through to the next round, Zverev praised his opponent and revealed his words of consolation.

"I told Sebastian this is the worst he will ever feel on the tennis court, this moment," he began. It was such an incredible match. I know this too well - I lost the US Open final from two sets ahead, The next year I won the Olympic Gold and the ATP Tour Finals. He's a great kid. He's going to do a lot of unbelievable things in this sport."

Asked what spurred on his improvement in the second set, he said: "I couldn't have played worse, that set. I just tried to fight. In those moments you're not going to play great every single match, and you have to find a way to win this match. I'm happy with still being in the tournament right now.

"I was planning my holiday in Monaco, where I’m going to go. That relaxed me a bit, thinking of the beach. There’s not much you can do, you just have to find a way You talk about mental strength, talk about Rafa [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic]. I’ll never be on their level but I’m trying got get closer to them."