Alexander Zverev demands Yorkshire reporter asks first question at French Open conference
ALEXANDER ZVEREV demanded a reporter from Yorkshire asked the first question in his press conference after booking a spot in the French Open fourth round.
The second seed was forced to save a match point before beating Damir Dzumhur in five sets.
Dzumhur, who is ranked 29th in the world, eventually fell to a 6-2 3-6 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 defeat.
It’s the second five-setter that Zverev has won in a row - and after the last one he had a hilarious exchange with a Yorkshire reporter.
After asking a question at his press conference, Zverev replied: “Where you from, buddy?”
The journalist responded: “Do you want to guess? Yorkshire in England.”
Zverev laughed back: “Nice. If I ever make a tournament there I'm coming just because of that accent. Love it. I didn't understand a word you're saying, but it's not important.”
And the love-in continued today when Zverev took control of the press conference to ensure he heard the Yorkshire accent again.
The German smiled: “My man from Yorkshire gets the first question. Come on!” The Yorkshire journalist then duly obliged in quizzing the 21-year-old.
Alexander Zverev struggles to understand reporter from Yorkshire
Zverev will meet Lucas Pouille or Karen Khachanov in the fourth round.
He added: “I think it was important to kind of see for myself that I can win back-to-back five-set matches and both very difficult physical matches.
“I was feeling fine physically, so for me that gives me a lot of confidence going deep into the fifth set, going long matches on this kind of surface. And knowing that I'm fit enough to last as long as I want.
“This gives me a lot of confidence, of course, and I think it was an important point to prove to myself, as well.”