“But I found a way, which was the most important. Sometimes I manage to do that quite well, I think. Yeah, I think I lost the most important five-setter in my career so far, which is upsetting but it's OK. At Grand Slams you have to fight through these days.”
Zverev points to the gruelling workout regime we regularly see on social media as a pinpoint for his success going the distance.
“Honestly I think I'm quite fit. It's something that I worked on not in the matches but outside the court, in the gym in the off-season and the training blocks that I did. It was for these moments,” he said.
“You know, you don't need to be lifting 170 kilos on dead lifts or 150 kilos on squats for three-set matches. That's not what you're doing it for. You're doing it for five-set matches, for the big moments like this. I think that the work has been done not on the court but off the court.”
Back at Roland-Garros 2016, Herbert and Zverev collided in the first round, with the German securing a second-round ticket in four sets.