BBC interviewer Annabel Croft apologized to Alexander Zverev during an on-court interview at Wimbledon on Saturday after the German tennis star reacted to statistics about his serving prowess.
Croft, a former British number one, praised the number two seed for delivering 17 aces and clocking the fastest average serve at the tournament at 132mph during his straight-sets victory over Marcos Giron on Court No. 1.
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She asked Zverev how important it would be to maintain that performance level throughout the rest of the Grand Slam.
Zverev countered the compliment by explaining that such statistical praise usually has a negative psychological impact on his subsequent performances.
"Normally when people tell me these kind of things it always goes backwards," Zverev replied.
Croft quickly backtracked from her comments following the unexpected response. "Sorry," she said.
Zverev then joked about increasing his serving speed before emphasizing the tactical advantage of a strong serve on grass courts.
"I'm going to try to serve at 133 miles per hour next match on average so I keep that up.
But when the serve goes in, it's always helpful, especially on a grass court," Zverev said.
The German player entered Wimbledon following his first Grand Slam victory at the Roland Garros final in June, where he defeated Flavio Cobolli.
"I feel different from last year," Zverev said.
He noted that his recent performances have provided a significant confidence boost during critical moments compared to his first-round exit in 2025.
