Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud were jokingly told off by Alexander Zverev for their age-based jokes ahead of the ATP Finals.
The tennis stars spoke to the press before the season-ending tournament, with Zverev, Rublev and Ruud competing in the John Newcombe group alongside Carlos Alcaraz.
World no. 2 Zverev is the second-oldest player at the tournament, behind 28-year-old Daniil Medvedev.
When asked what it was like to be the most experienced, the 27-year-old German asked: “Am I the most experienced?
“I think I played the Finals the most out of everyone.
“F*** I feel old.”
Ruud and Rublev were out of shot, but could be heard laughing.
“You are!” the latter joked, agreeing the German was old.
Zverev then leaned over and laughed: “Can you be quiet?!”
The banter between the rivals didn’t stop there though.
“We’re quiet, we don’t get any questions so you go ahead,” Ruud laughed.
Zverev then offered the Norwegian a chance to answer instead.
“No, we enjoy sitting here,” he joked.
The presence of 37-year-old Novak Djokovic will have no doubt made Zverev feel more youthful had he been competing.
However, the Serbian pulled out of the Turin tournament due to injury.
This marks the first time since 2001 no member of ‘The Big Four’ – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Djokovic – have competed at the tournament.
The other three members of the iconic quartet have recently retired.
“I think it’s strange to not see Novak here just because of all the success he had and for me, he’s still one of the best players in the world,” Zverev continued after his rivals quietened down.
“I mean, he qualified for this event, right? He just chose not to play it.”
Zverez will face Rublev on Monday.
He enters the ATP Finals off the back of winning the Paris Masters over the weekend.
