MELBOURNE: A lighthearted exchange before the Australian Open could prove spookily prophetic after Novak Djokovic's shock retirement handed Alexander Zverev a fast-lane pass into the final.
Before the tournament started, Djokovic cheekily made his way into Zverev's preview press conference and pretended to be a journalist.
"Yes, you're going to win your 25th grand slam," Zverev said after jokingly refusing to take questions from the champion.
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Alexander Zverev speaks during a press conference before the Australian Open. Getty
"We're all going to be happy. Yay, Novak Djokovic, once again."
Djokovic then asked Zverev, the world No.2 who is yet to win a major: "Do you think that the answer of winning a grand slam lies in space?"
Zverev replied: "I think the answer of winning a grand slam is you letting me win one."
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Spooky.
Of course, Zverev will still have to get past either world No.1 Jannik Sinner or American hotshot Ben Shelton in Sunday's final.
The German giant was humbled that he would have Djokovic's support against either player and gave a sharp response to a question about whether he would have handled the injury situation any differently – and at least called for a doctor for consultation before retiring.
"Novak knows his body better than anyone else. It's as simple as that," Zverev said.
"And also, what is the doctor going to do? I talked to his team after the match, he was already on painkillers, you know, and he knows that it's an injury that he had before.
"So, OK, he's going to call the doctor to tell him what exactly? To take more pills? I mean, at some point there's a limit, also, you know, how much (painkilling medication) you could take.
"So I think we should stop blaming Novak. Novak has done absolutely everything he could on the tennis court in the last 20 years.
"He's won this tournament with an abdominal tear, where most players can't even continue playing.
"He's won this tournament with a hamstring tear, you know, he's a 10-time champion (in Melbourne). I think we should all just respect that in a way because there's nobody in the sport's history who has won and who has done as much as him."
Zverev has won 23 ATP Tour titles and been runner-up at two majors – the 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open.
Both were devastating five-set defeats – the first to Dominic Thiem and the second to Carlos Alcaraz.
The 27-year-old bluntly admitted he got tired in both of those contests but said he had never been fitter, hungrier or more prepared than he is now in Melbourne.
"I made no secret about it. I was very frustrated after the US Open (last year losing to Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals). I was very disappointed with myself, with my performance and how I played there," he said.
"My goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete for these kind of tournaments and try to win them and for that I need to get better. I need to improve on the court. I need to improve physically…
"It's nothing that of course I wished for, but it (Djokovic's retirement) happened. I'm obviously happy that I'm in a grand slam final again. I'm obviously happy that I have another shot at winning a grand slam. Was it the way I wanted it in? No, of course not, but it's how it is sometimes in sports."