WATCH: ‘Can you at least look at me?’ Alexander Zverev irked by reporter on phone, demands total attention


WATCH: ‘Can you at least look at me?’ Alexander Zverev irked by reporter on phone, demands total attention

Alexander Zverev

Third seed Alexander Zverev survived a very tough second-round encounter at the 2022 French Open and defeated Argentine Sebastian Baez. Zverev came from two sets down to beat Baez in five sets 2-6,4-6,6-1.6-2,7-5 to reach the third round at Roland Garros where he’ll face American Brandon Nakashima.

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During Zverev’s post-match press conference, a strange incident took place. While the German was answering one of the reporter’s questions, he snapped at the moderator who wasn’t interested in listening to the answer and was disrespectfully using his phone.

“Can you at least look at me when I am giving you an answer?” a visibly frustrated Zverev asked the moderator. “Because you asked me that question and you were just on your phone.” The room was dead silent and Zverev’s wry smile was making things even more awkward.

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‘I think I was quite depressed at times’: Alexander Zverev talks about social media hate

Alexander Zverev | Tennis News | FirstSportz
Alexander Zverev

In the same press conference at the French Open, Zverev spoke about handling social media hate. He has been in the negative limelight for various reasons and constantly gets online hate from fans. He clarified that he doesn’t look at the online comments thrown at him but also mentioned that his mental health doesn’t really depend on it.

“You have to learn not to look at it,” Zverev said when asked about negative comments aimed his way. “But for me, my mental health does not depend on social media. My mental health depends on other problems I have, to be honest. I never talk about it. I think some players talk about it more often, and [are] more open.”

He added that while some players talk about mental health openly, he never did because he never felt like sharing such things on a public platform.

“I don’t like to do that, but I was struggling a lot this year. So, yeah, not because of social media. I was struggling a lot because of other things, so I was not happy. I think I was quite depressed at times, as well. So, yeah. It’s all a big part. I think the pressure we are under, we are constantly in the spotlight,” he said.

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Also Read: WATCH: ‘Shut Up’ Stefanos Tsitsipas’ mother yells at his father to avoid alleged coaching allegations

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