Alexander Zverev on Friday defended his decision to play four lucrative exhibition matches against Roger Federer in Latin America, having previously complained the season was too long.
The 22-year-old German takes on the Swiss legend between November 19 and November 24 in Santiago, Bogota, Mexico City and Quito.
It coincides with the new-format Davis Cup Finals, which the world number six said last year that he would not play in because he needed the time off.
“That will be my holiday, it’s not like playing a tournament so we won’t go there and practise hours a day,” Zverev, one of the biggest young talents in tennis, said.
“So it’s going to be very different – we’ll play the match, we’ll have a lot of fun, we’ll try to win against each other, but it’s not the same,” Zverev said after reaching the China Open semi-finals in Beijing.
“You go there, you enjoy the places, you don’t go out and practise and kill yourself, so it’s different.”
