Alexander Zverev will still be on cloud nine following his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Zverev was the second seed at the clay-court Grand Slam, which he won thanks to a five-set victory over Flavio Cobolli in the final in Paris.
But undoubtedly helping him were the shock exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, who both lost early at the French Open.
Top seed Sinner fell to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in just the second round, while third seed Djokovic was beaten by Joao Fonseca in the third round.
Those exits have now been discussed by Zverev, who has been looking back on his memorable run in the French capital.
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Alexander Zverev recalls Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic losing early at the French Open
Zverev was asked by Sports Illustrated if there was a key moment en route to his title, to which he replied in German: “When Sinner lost, I was just at the training ground.
“Somehow I felt this pressure immediately.
“Actually, I didn’t want him to lose, because I felt very comfortable during training and in the tournament and had the feeling of playing really good tennis.
“Less than 24 hours later I had my third round match in the night session.
“The match before that was Fonseca against Djokovic – and suddenly Djokovic lost.
“This game was important to me.
“I didn’t play very well, I was tense and nervous, a lot went through my head.
“After I won this match, everything cleared up a bit – and I had just arrived in the tournament.”
After knocking out Benjamin Bonzi and Tomas Machac, the eventual champion beat Quentin Halys in round three.
Zverev then defeated Jesper de Jong, Rafael Jodar and Jakub Mensik before edging past Cobolli in the final.
Recalling the winning moment, Zverev said: “Of course, there was a lot of pressure on me to win this Grand Slam, actually over the entire two weeks of the tournament.
“After Sinner was eliminated and later Djokovic had also lost, I suddenly stood there and knew: Okay, now I’m suddenly the favorite.
“Until the finale I managed these emotions very well, but then I was really, very nervous.
“When Flavio Cobolli’s last hit landed in the out and I saw my box jump into the air, a lot of emotions came up.”
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Alexander Zverev details the biggest change between clay and grass courts
While the clay-court title will still be fresh in his memory, Zverev has since moved on to the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany.
He beat Vit Kopriva in his first match at the grass-court event, and now meets fellow German Yannick Hanfmann in the round of 16.
Sharing if he changes anything in training or in his game when switching surfaces, Zverev said: “My focus will now be on completely different things.
“The change from sand to grass is the most extreme we have in tennis.
“On sand the ball jumps incredibly slowly and high, you can stand further back, slide into the balls and be a little more patient.
“On the lawn, the ball never reaches knee height and slips through the court, you have to go immediately to the point at the first chance.
“This changes the game, but above all also the movement, since the technique for it is completely different.
“That was always the hardest for me.
“But I find that I have also become better at it over the years.”
Zverev also committed to playing doubles at the ATP 500 event alongside Marcelo Melo, but they fell to Cobolli and Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals.
He will undoubtedly be doing all he can to improve on the surface, with Zverev having more difficulty on grass than clay and hard courts throughout his career.
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