“He Depends a Lot on His Opponent’s Mistake,” Alexander Zverev Aims Dig at Lorenzo Musetti After Crashing out of the Rome Masters

Alexander Zverev’s bid for the Italian Open title defense came to a crushing end after he lost to the in-form Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-finals. The German was visibly frustrated by the loss and gave no praise for the brilliance of his opponent; rather, he shared an uncomplimentary dig about his rival’s style of play.

Zverev had endured a poor ATP Masters 1000 campaign so far this season. He lost in the second round in Indian Wells, the round of 16 in Miami, the second round in Monte Carlo, and the fourth round in Madrid. He was hoping to get his first Master’s final or semi-finals of the season, but was dealt with by a superior opponent.

Musetti gave the German star no chance during the match as he kept hitting a variety of shots, forcing Zverev to adjust every time. The Italian made sure he never played the same style of ball twice in a rally, and that infuriated Zverev. In fact, in the first set, the Australian Open finalist led 6-5 (40-0) and was to serve for the match, but Musetti came from behind to win the set.

The Italian then began to use forehand drop shots in the second set and was very effective. The style of play won him five points alone in the second set and entirely crushed Zverev’s tactics. Musetti prevailed over Zverev 7-6(1), 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes.

After the match, Zverev, who did try to shush the crowd during his loss, revealed that Musetti kept using his mistakes against him. The Paris Masters champion added that it was a difficult match, while blaming himself for not winning the first set. Zverve said post-game:

I don't know. I think he plays similarly when he plays on clay all the time. He depends a lot on defense. He depends a lot on the mistakes of other opponents. Today was difficult for me to hit winners. It was very slow, very, very heavy. The balls were getting very big. Even though I had my chances, I was up three set points, four set points in the first set on my serve. Usually, I should win that set, and then we'll see. Yeah, like I said, it was difficult today.

Zverev’s loss to Musetti means he will drop to World No.3 after failing to defend his points. The 28-year-old would also be heading into the French Open not at his best form, having won just one title this season. He also has a lot of points to defend at the Roland Garros as he was the runner-up last year.

Alexander Zverev slams the quality of the balls used at the Italian Open

Alexander Zverev also questioned the quality of the ball used at the Italian Open after his loss to Lorenzo Musetti. The German had first laid his criticism of the ball after reaching the fourth round, but this time around, was more frustrated by it. He didn’t hold back during his press conference as he compared the ball to others used during this clay-court season. Zverev added:

The balls today were a real disaster, they were too big. We have been talking about this for the last three or four years, but the problem persists. We play with certain balls in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Munich, but we get to Rome and everything changes. Here, the balls are huge, they're hard to move, hard to make them bounce off the racket. For someone like me, who seeks quick points with the serve and aggressive shots, it's not easy.

Other players at the Italian Open have not complained about the ball, but players such as Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have complained about the conditions of the court. They have hinted that it makes the ball move more slowly than usual.

However, the lack of uniformity in balls across the ATP calendar has become a big issue as small inconsistencies can significantly impact a player’s performance on the court.

Also Read: (Video) Jannik Sinner Gifts Racket to ‘Quite Amateur Tennis Player’ Pope XIV Who Shares His Wimbledon Dream

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