Silly question, but what is a press conference before a tournament for? I found out this morning on the 7:32 train, reading We Love Tennis.
On Friday, in Turin, Alexander Zverev sat in a press conference with his group partners: Arthur Fils, Rafael Jodar and Ben Shelton. A journalist took the floor. He said he had met the 30 world number ones from around the world, and that Zverev was therefore the last. Zverev answered: “Are you going to die?”
I read it three times. The journalist was talking about his list. The answer was visibly talking about something else. I think it’s a joke on the word “last”, but I’m not sure. In football, I’m told that’s called banter. In tennis, We Love Tennis calls it a very awkward joke, and writes that Zverev has a very particular sense of humour.
So I investigated how you measure awkwardness. No applause meter in a press room. No Hawk-Eye for jokes. The official instrument, according to the article, is Ben Shelton’s face: his reaction suggested that stupefaction, rather than hilarity, was in the room. So the line judge of humour that day was a group partner.
I asked Jean-Pol whether there is a rule on jokes in the press room.
Well, it’s very simple: a joke is for the stands, never for the microphone. I’ve been saying it for years, nobody listens to me.
I’m told tradition calls for sensible answers, “one match at a time”, fine, but what does that mean? Here, the answer was a question. The journalist announced Zverev as the last of his thirty, and the last of his thirty replied with a question of his own.
Anyway, I still have a lot to learn. The tournament starts now, and the group is complete.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
