Alexander Zverev asks Novak Djokovic to let him win one Grand Slam in unexpected banter at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev recently had a funny exchange after the Serb crashed the German's pre-tournament press conference at the Australian Open. Djokovic touched upon Zverev yet to win a Grand Slam, to which the latter replied that it was because the 24-time Major winner always stood in his way to Major glory.

Zverev enjoyed a career-best season on the ATP Tour last year, the highlights of which included reaching the final of the French Open and finishing second in the year-end singles rankings. The 27-year-old is on the lookout for his maiden Major title in Melbourne this year but will likely have to go through at least one of Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, or Carlos Alcaraz.

Alexander Zverev fielded various questions from the media at the Happy Slam on Friday, January 10. Towards the end, Djokovic interceded for the journalists by first talking about the World No. 2's apparent love for space exploration.

"We know that you love the universe, planetary systems," Novak Djokovic said. "Can you tell us what attracts you to the space exploration subject?"

After they had a dialogue, Djokovic made the following segue:

"Do you think that the answer of winning a Grand Slam lies in space?"

In response, the German insisted that his bid for a maiden Major title would've been easier without the former World No. 1 in the mix.

"I think the answer of winning a Grand Slam is you letting me win one," Alexander Zverev replied while laughing.

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Alexander Zverev on his off-season: "Everything has to be above the limit"

Alexander Zverev practices at Rod Laver Arena (Source: Getty)

During the press conference, Alexander Zverev also spoke briefly about his off-season training after his 2024 season ended last November. The German maintained that it was integral for tennis pros to push themselves physically to prepare themselves for the best-of-five format at the Majors.

"In the off-season, I don't call it extra work because the off-season is exactly for that. I think you have to go to your limit physically, you have to go to your limit on how much you play tennis," Zverev said. "Everything has to be almost above the limit, that playing a Grand Slam and playing five sets almost becomes easy for you physically. Yeah, I definitely feel like I did that this off-season."

Zverev will take on France's Lucas Pouille in his first-round match at the 2025 Australian Open on Sunday, January 12. The German will be eager to improve his career-best result of reaching the semifinals (2020) in Melbourne during the next fortnight.