It’s such a lack of respect for the players, for the athletes

Alexander Zverev is in a fourth Grand Slam final after taking down Jakub Mensik in four sets. He was jubilant afterwards with a sense of focus and concentration surrounding him. He was able to crack a joke about athletes having ‘nothing in their heads’ before matches which fell on deaf ears for former professional tennis player Alize Cornet, who did not find the funny side of the comment.

The German confidently strode into a 2-0 lead after a slightly shaky and tense start by both players. He fended off a late comeback attempt by Mensik to secure a second Roalnd Garros final, and possibly his best chance of breaking his Grand Slam duct.

After the win, Zverev spoke in his on-court interview, pumped up but still remaining composed with the job not done by a long stretch. The final question asked by Alex Corretja on Court Philippe Chatrier was what he thinks about ahead of walking onto court.

Zverev’s answer gave the audience a chuckle. “It’s a blank. I try to completely empty my head and not think about anything,” he joked. “Honestly, we’re athletes, but very few of us have anything in our heads anyway. Sometimes it’s easier to just be silly and not think too much.”

Cornet claps back at Zverev joke

This response did not go down well with everyone. Cornet was displeased with Zverev’s response, taking offence as a former tennis player as she gazed on for French TV.

“The pointlessness of this statement, I’m stunned, actually. To say that athletes have nothing between their ears… Okay, he’s speaking for himself, but we’re all in the same boat,” she argued.

“Seriously, it’s crazy when you think about it, to say that on centre court. It’s such a lack of respect for the players, for the athletes… I’m calming down, I’m calming down. If he meant to be funny, it wasn’t.”

Walking onto court before a big match can be very nerve-wracking. Not just in tennis, but in every sport ahead of a make or break match players and athletes can feel the tension bubbling inside them. Each player has their methods of staying focused on the task at hand.

At times in this tournament, the pressure seemed to get to Zverev at the start of the match. Since the world number one Jannik Sinner was dumped out of the tournament in round two, Zverev was the overwhelming favourite, bumped up a notch or two with Novak Djokovic losing a couple of rounds later.

Alexander Zverev is one win away from clinching a maiden Grand Slam title

He constantly had to bite back at the media for asking him about how he felt about being the favourite with him still trying to get over the line for a first Grand Slam title. The 29-year-old showed tension early on in his matchups against Rafael Jodar and Jakub Mensik. In the quarter-final, Jodar sailed into a 5-2 lead and had the chance to serve it out with Zverev very much on the backfoot. He collected himself and rallied back, settling into the match and dropping just five games from that point in a commanding win.

While he did not fall behind against Mensik, three break points halfway through the first set represented a nervy affair between the two players. Zverev survived and later strutted his stuff in a fine performance. He will need to banish these butterflies quickly in the final against a fit and fresh Flavio Cobolli who will be raring to go, looking for that early blow. Being the experienced professional that he is, Zverev will come out all guns blazing in what is set to be a brilliant final of tennis.

Cornet claps back at Zverev joke

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