Alexander Zverev opens up on feeling like a ‘zombie’ after beating rival at US Open
Alexander Zverev made a winning start to his US Open campaign on Monday night.
Alexander Zverev has claimed ‘tall people need more sleep’ and revealed he is a ‘zombie’ if he gets less than eight hours of shuteye. The 6’6” star won his German derby with Maximilian Marterer 6-2 6-7 6-3 6-2 in the opening match of the US Open on Grandstand.
But the 2020 finalist admitted he is not a fan of an 11am start despite his ability to sleep at any time. “I’m actually lucky enough that when I lay down, I sleep,” said the No. 4 seed. “I’m fine, doesn’t matter whether it’s 3am or 11pm. I sleep quite well and quite deeply.
“I’m not somebody that struggles with that in that regard, but 11am matches are not my favourite. I think everybody knows that. But it’s part of our sport. We don’t have a set schedule. “We don’t know when we play in advance, except if you’re No. 1 or 2 in the world, then you can maybe have a say or have an influence on the schedule. Or if you’re American at the US Open, then maybe you can as well, but that’s about it.
I don’t have an influence on the schedule. “I don’t know when I play, don’t know what court I play, even though, you know, being No. 4 in the world, I would like to think that I’m going to play on the big courts. But apart from that, there is no influence in that regard.” Asked if he benefits from a lot of sleep, the 2021 Olympic champion responded: “I think there is a study that shows, I don’t know if it’s true or not, that tall people need more sleep than maybe shorter people. Yeah. Me, I’m between nine and 11 hours. If I sleep less than eight hours, I’m a zombie. I’m not functional at all.”
