Alexander Zverev was not entirely happy with his first round performance at the Australian Open.
Zverev reached the Australian Open final last year, and therefore faces the pressure of defending a significant number of ranking points at the 2026 tournament.
The world number three will be looking to go one better this year, as Zverev looks to close the gap on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
However, after Zverev was handed a challenging Australian Open draw, he has admitted that he made a mistake during his first round match against Canadian Gabriel Diallo.
Alexander Zverev reveals the mistake he made in the first set against Gabriel Diallo
Zverev came into the Australian Open this year in mixed form, having won only one of his two matches at the United Cup, including being beaten by Hubert Hurkacz.
There were concerns for Zverev when he was drawn against talented young Canadian Diallo, which were heightened when he lost the first set of their first round match.
However, Zverev was able to come through to beat Diallo, 6(1)-7 6-1 6-4 6-2, to progress to the second round.
When reflecting on his win in his post-match press conference, Zverev admitted that while he was happy with his overall performance, he claimed he was being ‘too defensive’ in the first set.
“Yeah, he’s a great player. Very young, very talented, very powerful,” Zverev said about Diallo. “In the beginning, I was not playing good. You know, I was giving him too many chances, I was too defensive. But the normal stuff that I do in the first round of a Grand Slam sometimes.
“Happy with the way I played the second, third, and fourth, because I thought that was quite high level for me.”
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Alexander Zverev explains why he was not happy with the Australian Open draw
After beating Diallo on Rod Laver Arena, Zverev spoke in his on-court interview where he revealed that he was initially not happy with his first round draw at the Australian Open this year.
When questioned on these comments, Zverev was asked if he now sees the draw differently after being tested by a difficult opponent.
“Yeah, afterwards it’s easy to say yes, because I won,” responded Zverev. “But, for example, Wimbledon last year, I lost to a similar player in the first round.
“Yeah, after you won and after you’re through that match, yeah, it’s a positive for sure, because you have been tested and you know where you are and you know where your level is at, especially in difficult moments.
“But before, you know, when the draw comes out and you haven’t played, and I’m not sitting here as the winner, it’s not, yeah, it’s not something is nice or you look forward to. At the end, of course, I was happy with how I took on the challenge and especially how I played the last three sets.”
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Zverev now progresses to the second round of the Australian Open for a 10th consecutive year, where he will play either Alexei Popyrin or Alexandre Muller.
While he does not know his opponent yet, Zverev does know that he will play his second round match on Wednesday, January 21.
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