Annabel Croft’s instant apology to Alexander Zverev in Wimbledon interview | Tennis | Sport
There was an awkward moment at Wimbledon on Saturday as Annabel Croft interviewed Alexander Zverev on Court No.1. The German had just beaten Marcos Giron in straight sets and was praised for the speed of his serve. However, BBC interviewer Croft felt the need to apologise after Zverev’s reaction to her kind words. The former British No.1 pointed to the 17 aces served by Zverev and told him he had the fastest average serve at the tournament so far at 132 miles per hour, but his reaction prompted her to dial back.
“How important is that going to be going forward, to try to get this title, and what’s the key to it firing?” Croft asked. “Normally when people tell me these kind of things it always goes backwards,” Zverev replied with a smile, prompting an immediate “Sorry” from the Brit. The No. 2 seed continued: “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.”
At SW19, the world No. 3 saw off the challenge of Alexander Blockx and Valentin Royer before beating Giron 6-2, 7-6, 6-4. He will now take on Jiri Lehecka, the 13th seed, who has dropped just one set so far at the Championships.
“I feel different from last year,” added Zverev, who suffered a first round exit to Arthur Rinderknech in 2025. “I feel like I play better tennis and feel like I [at] important moments have a bit more confidence, which is always very helpful.
“I’m through to the fourth round, I want to keep going and I want to play a lot more great matches. Out here on Court 1, stadium court, whatever, I just enjoy my time out here on court. I just hope to continue doing that and, of course, winning in Paris, coming in here with a title like that, I think helps everybody.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter how many Grand Slams you’ve won. For me it’s my first one so I’m very happy about that but of course now I want to keep going.”
