Alexander Zverev was tired of the slow court and he was not shy to admit it. The third-ranked German expressed his opinion on the matter after defeating Valentin Royer in Shanghai.
He even pointed his finger at the two monsters at the top of the ATP rankings and suggested that the tour is tailoring the stadium speed for the advantages of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“I honestly hate it the same then,” Zverev noted. “I think the tournament directors are moving in that direction because obviously they want Jannik (Sinner) and Carlos (Alcaraz) to do well in every game, and that’s what they like.
“Now, you can play almost the same way on every surface. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I think tennis needs a different style of play, tennis needs a little variety, and I think we lack that way right now.”
Credit for Alcaraz and Sinner is interesting and has been responsible for this trend for decades. Wimbledon slowed down the surface of the game in the early 2000s and turned to another seed that could bounce higher in an effort to bring more rally into the pasture race.
The public’s romance with Nadal-Dokokovic Rally also played a role. Serve-and-volley tennis has been on the court for some time, and shooting tolerance has become the new buzzword for the sport.
Perhaps the rise of sinners and Alkaraz gave power, which is another reason to extend the trend by keeping it slower, but, as Sina said, what speed each event chooses for his tough court is not up to him.
Sinner was asked about Zverev’s comments after beating Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-3.
“Carlos and I, we don’t go to court,” he said. “It’s not our decision. We tried to adapt to ourselves in every situation. I feel like every week is still a little different. Even on the faster court, I played some great tennis. But I didn’t do it in court, so I just tried to adapt and play my best tennis, and that’s it.”
