With several pre-tournament favorites including Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic seeing their French Open dreams come crashing down, the spotlight has rapidly shifted elsewhere. The second seed Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, keeps marching forward after defeating Jesper De Jong to book his place in the QF, making many fans view him as a leading title contender. Yet while the favorite label grows louder around him, the 2024 Paris finalist now delivered a blunt response when questioned about carrying that expectation.

“Why don’t you just give the answer, then?” Alexander Zverev said with a smile during his post-match press conference yesterday after he beat Jesper De Jong 7-6 6-4 6-1. The remark came bluntly after a reporter asked whether he felt like the top favorite to win the tournament.

Despite the question, the German was not interested in embracing the label. Instead, he quickly shifted the focus back to the court and the task immediately in front of him.

“No, I’ll give the same answer I gave two days ago. I’ll focus on the matches that are ahead of me. This is the only thing I can control. I focused on de Jong, I played a good match. I’m going to focus on Jódar next.”

The 29-year-old has repeatedly emphasized that he can only control what happens on the court. Everything else, including outside opinions and predictions, remains beyond his influence at the moment.

That approach also extends to how he handles the noise surrounding major tournaments. Zverev has long preferred to distance himself from social distractions whenever Grand Slams are taking place.

During Sunday’s press conference, he was also asked whether he had changed any habits to shield himself from the atmosphere around the event. “I’m not hearing”: “My phone is off, but it’s been off for, like, seven years during Grand Slams. I don’t have social media.”

Interestingly, his comments closely mirrored what he had said only a couple of days earlier. Following his victory over Quentin Halys in the third round, he was asked a very similar question regarding his status in the tournament. “I know I’m playing De Jong tomorrow, who has won six matches here, and that’s my focus. That’s the only thing that I can control.”

At that point, many people believed the path had opened up considerably after Novak Djokovic’s sudden exit. Naturally, reporters wanted to know whether Zverev now considered himself the favorite.

Still, the argument for Sascha being the leading contender is difficult to ignore. Carlitos never started the tournament after withdrawing through injury. The Italian top seed suffered a surprise 2nd round defeat to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo. 

At the same time, a resounding narrative continues to follow Zverev throughout his career. Many still describe him as the best player without a Grand Slam title, a tag that remains after reaching 3 major finals and falling short each time in his career.

Perhaps the most painful moment came after his AO 2025 final loss to Jannik Sinner. Sitting in the post-match press conference that year, he openly admitted, “I don’t want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that’s for sure. I’ll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies.” 

Now, with a place in the QF secured, Zverev moves one step closer to that dream, but he will need to produce his very best tennis to reach the semis of this year’s French Open.

Alexander Zverev set for exciting clash against 19-year-old Rafael Jodar 

The next obstacle for Sacha on the road to the semis is Rafael Jódar, the 19-year-old Spaniard who has quickly become one of the biggest stories of this year’s tournament.

At the beginning of the clay-court season, the Spaniard was ranked outside the top 100. However, just a few months later, he finds himself inside the top 20 following a remarkable rise through the rankings during the Madrid Masters.

In the meantime, by almost any reading of the remaining bracket for the Slam, Zverev sits in a strong position. Yet for the past several days, Sascha has consistently refused to discuss his chances of winning the tournament.

Interestingly, whenever the conversation turns to Jódar specifically, the German becomes far more engaged. “He was outside the top 100 at the start of the clay-court season, and now he’s top 20 after this week. He can accelerate the ball from both sides, which is incredibly special. A very aggressive player, very young, tremendous talent. I’m looking forward to our first meeting,” Zverev added in the post match press conference yesterday.

Later, reporters asked Zverev whether the former world No. 2 remembered being in Jódar’s position. His answer offered a rare glimpse into how he views different stages of careers of tennis players. 

“It’s a fun time for any player when you’re first coming up, because you’ve got no pressure. You play freely. You experience all these big things for the first time. It’s a lot of fun to be in that position. But I think it’s also fun to be in the position I’m in, where I’ve been at this level for ten years, I play my matches, I know how to handle certain situations.” 

As the highly anticipated matchup approaches tomorrow, it will be fascinating to see whether Zverev’s experience can overcome the fearless momentum of the young Spaniard and carry him into the semis in this year’s tournament.