Zverev's start in Vienna: "Didn't know what to expect"

"I'll manage it somehow"

Since Zverev had "played quite well" in practice in the past few days, there were probably few doubts beforehand: "Of course you think: He's somehow the world number 60 or whatever, I'll manage that somehow."

But it turned out differently. Landaluce demanded everything from the two-time Grand Slam winner. He won 17 games, just like his opponent. In the end, the 41 unforced errors (Zverev had 29) probably cost the Iberian the match.

"He definitely didn't play like a world number 60 today," the German paid respect to the 20-year-old: "He showed an incredible tennis match and I'm very happy to have won."

Just one win, then number one

However, the victory over Landaluce is not just about advancing to the round of 16, where he will meet Griekspoor or Nakashima. The 29-year-old now needs just one more win to become world number one for the first time next Monday.

The German didn't even know this himself shortly after his match during the on-court interview.

"Not a huge issue"

"I'm really not thinking about it right now - I only found out about it through this," he explained at the press conference. "It's not a huge issue in my mind whether I become number one this week or the week after."

However, he would find it nice to achieve this milestone in Vienna. "After Germany, this would be the perfect place for me to become world number one," he said in the on-court interview.

"Die 500er-Events sind für mich persönlich interessanter als die Masters - als Fan von Tennis."

Sascha Zverev

He likes the tournament in Vienna not only because of the city, but also because of the format.

"For me personally, the 500-level events are more interesting than the Masters – as a fan of tennis," Zverev tells LAOLA1 when asked.

Six top-ten players are competing in the Wiener Stadthalle. "We already had Alcaraz against Khachanov and Paul against Rublev – you usually see something like that in the second week of a Masters tournament," says the French Open winner.

For him, the 500-level tournaments are what the 1000-level tournaments used to be: "As a tennis fan, I find that incredibly exciting."

At the Erste Bank Open, tennis fans in Vienna are offered a lot of entertainment not only on the court but also around it. During changeovers and short breaks in matches, loud music is sometimes played, which Carlos Alcaraz found "too loud".

"Once the music started playing when it was 1-1. That was a bit strange, but I generally find the atmosphere here very, very nice," Zverev commented.

What bothered him more were the "incredibly slow" balls. The German had already complained about this during the match. "I don't think I've ever had so few aces (8, editor's note) after a three-set match as today. I struggled with that."

Nevertheless, it was enough for the win, even if it was as close as Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or victory on Monday evening.