Zverev: "I absolutely love playing in France. I think you're an incredible crowd."

Alexander Zverev was full of praise for the Paris-Bercy crowd on Thursday, after his match against Arthur Fils in the Round of 16 at the Rolex Paris Masters. There's probably a touch of strategy in the world No. 3's speech, a way of ensuring that he'll have support for the rest of the tournament.

But there's probably a lot of sincerity too on the part of the German, who really seems to appreciate the atmosphere on Centre Court at the Accor Arena in particular, and at French tournaments in general.

Alexander Zverev: "I love this atmosphere. I love it when the stadium is full. I like it when it's very noisy. It gives me, you know, great energy. Of course, I didn't expect to see German flags everywhere here (laughs). So it was still fun to play.

I always say that, you know, some players have a really hard time playing in France. They have a really hard time playing in Paris because the crowd is so noisy. The public really support the French players.

To be honest, I love it. So the more the better. I think you're an incredible crowd. I always appreciate that.

And I think every player has to understand that we're in France here. When I play in Germany, the public is for me. When we play in the United States, the public is for the Americans. And that's totally normal. And I think every player should understand that."