SHANGHAI (Reuters) -World number three Alexander Zverev accused tournament directors of slowing down courts to help Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner succeed across all surfaces, with the German saying on Saturday that the sport needs to bring back variety.
Zverev was speaking at the Shanghai Masters, where he was asked to give his thoughts on the court speed on the tour this year which others like Swiss great Roger Federer had also observed to be slower.
Federer had said the slower courts allowed players to play the same way on clay, grass or hardcourts, adding that he wanted to see Alcaraz and Sinner adjust to fast conditions.
But Zverev not only echoed those sentiments but also fired a provocative shot at tournament directors.
“I hate when it’s the same and I know that the tournament directors are going towards that direction because obviously they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament, and that’s what they prefer,” Zverev said in an on-court interview.
“I’ve been on tour for 12 years now and we always had different surfaces. We always had tournaments which you liked and we always had tournaments which you didn’t like so much.”
While Alcaraz has won six Grand Slam titles at the age of 22, Sinner has won four, with the top two players in the world splitting the last eight majors between them.
“You couldn’t play tennis the same way on a grass court, hard court and a clay court. Nowadays you can play almost the same way on every surface, so I don’t like it, I’m not a fan of it,” added Zverev, who has yet to win a major title.
“I think tennis needs game styles. Tennis needs a little bit of variety and I think we’re lacking that right now.”
While Alcaraz withdrew from the Shanghai Masters tournament with an ankle injury, second seed Sinner also moved into the next round with Zverev.
When the Italian was asked if tournament directors were standardising courts and making them slower to benefit him and Alcaraz, he offered a diplomatic response.
“Me and Carlos, we don’t make the courts. It’s not our decision,” he said.
“We try to adapt ourself in every situation. I feel like still every week is a bit different.
“I’ve played some great tennis even when it was faster courts. But I’m not making the courts, so I just try to adapt and play my best tennis I can, and that’s it.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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