Insolite - Zverev on his shock defeat by Nadal: "I thought it was a joke".

Highly confident since his triumph in Rome, Alexander Zverev appeared at a press conference on Friday. Unsurprisingly, the German was asked about the fiery first round the draw has in store for him, since, despite his status as number 4 seed, he will have to face Rafael Nadal in the very first round.

Given his ranking, there was probably no more difficult player to draw against than the Majorcan, a 14-time winner at Porte d'Auteuil. While he admitted to being surprised and somewhat distraught, he also took the opportunity to reiterate his desire to play Rafael Nadal again in Paris: "I was on the court training with Rublev yesterday (Thursday). After training, my brother told me, and I thought he was making fun of me, that it was a joke. Things are what they are.

To be honest, I wanted to play Rafa again because I didn't want to remember a match with Rafa where I left the court in a wheelchair. Ideally, of course, I would have preferred to play him later in the tournament. This year, he's not seeded and I am, so it's a tough draw, but for both of us. We'll see how things go on Monday."