Alexander Zverev has sheepishly explained the secret handshake he has been sharing his with partner Sophia Thomalla at the Australian Open after it captured the attention of tennis fans.
Second-seeded Zverev, chasing an elusive maiden grand slam title, prevailed against Tommy Paul 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-0) 2-6 6-1 on Tuesday during his grand slam quarter final.
Zverev was questioned afterwards by tennis great turned commentator Jim Courier about a ritual handshake he was caught doing with his girlfriend in the players’ area before matches.
Courier embarrassed the tennis star by replaying the clip to the delighted crowd at Rod Laver Arena.
‘What are you doing to me? I just played for four hours… I mean, we have been together for three and a half years now,’ grinned the 27-year-old.
‘Look, man, you got to understand we are German, this is the coolest version of German that you can be.
Alexander Zverev was questioned about the secret handshake he was caught doing with his with partner Sophia Thomalla before his matches at the Australian Open
‘This is the top of German coolness, it does not go any further than that. We did it, we did it well.’
Courier replied: ‘I’ve been married for 14 years, my wife and I don’t have a handshake, we’ve got to get going.’
He will next face 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in his third Melbourne Park semi-final.
Tennis’s biggest unfulfilled talent, with two grand slam final losses to his name, Zverev won the first set in a tiebreak, fighting back after Paul served for the set at 6-5.
But with a serving Paul leading the second set 4-2, Zverev had his feathers ruffled.
The German was incensed at the chair umpire when a point had to be replayed because a feather landed near the ball just as he was about to hit it.
The 27-year-old dropped the following point and received a code violation for yelling the F-bomb.
The German player and his girlfriend Sophia Thomalla (pictured) have been together for three and a half years
Thomalla is a model, actress and television presenter who has also starred in several TV dramas in Germany
Then, at deuce, a point was replayed after a feather landed near the ball just as Zverev was about to hit it, with Paul receiving another first serve.
Zverev plucked the feather – courtesy of one of the many seagulls in the Rod Laver Arena rafters – from the court and brandished it at the umpire in frustration.
‘Buddy, it’s a feather!’ Zverev said.
‘There’s millions of them on the court.’
But rather than implode, the German showed he was no featherweight, proving unflappable as he forced the set to a tiebreak.
‘I’ve never had that before that we stop a point because of a feather. So that was new to me,’ Zverev laughed post match.
Zverev will next face Novak Djokovic in his third Melbourne Park semi-final
‘Not sure it was a hindrance to anybody. It’s not like a hard object. Like even if the tennis ball hits the feather, it doesn’t really change anything.
‘It doesn’t change the trajectory of the ball or the bounce of the ball or anything like that.
‘But, yeah, I don’t know. Maybe the umpire did the right call and maybe not. I have no idea.
‘But it was a bit frustrating because obviously Tommy then would get a first serve, and he won the point with that serve as well.
‘I got a warning after that. So it was a bit much happening at that stage.’
