Alexander Zverev Expresses Dissatisfaction About the New Facilities at the Paris Masters

Alexander Zverev has revealed that the change of the Rolex Paris Masters surface has made the court messy. This comes a few weeks after court surfaces became a major discussion on tour after Roger Federer had suggested that the courts have become slower to suit Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner‘s style of play.

Over the years, Paris has remained one of the fastest surfaces in men’s tennis and has seen the likes of Alcaraz struggle to play at his best on it. In fact, he has never gone past the quarter-finals of the tournament in his career and actually crashed out in the third round last year after losing to the eventual runners-up in straight sets.

But ahead of the Paris Masters kick-off on Monday (October 27), the tournament made some significant changes to its surface, which has now slowed down the court speed. This was one of the major points that Federer and Zverev revealed a few weeks ago, suggesting that tournament directors slowed the speed of surfaces to increase the chances of Sinner and Alcaraz winning titles.

Zverev has won only one title this season and has reached four finals. His only trophy came on clay at the Munich Open in April. He fell to Sinner on two occasions on hard courts, first at the Australian Open final and then at the Vienna Open final. He’s the Paris Masters defending champion and will be aiming to win the title for the second consecutive year.

During his press conference at the Paris Masters, he was asked about the new surface in the tournament courts. The World No.3 narrated that the practice court is a bit better than the main court. The 28-year-old added that the other courts are a bit noisy due to the high tone of the speakers from the main court:

Some things were a bit better in Bercy, like the practice courts. The second match courts are better, but a bit messy. There’s a lot of noise from the other courts. For example, if you play on one of the outer courts, you can hear noise from court 1 and the speakers from the stadium court. It’s like there’s a lot of movement.

Zverev is yet to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final this season. His best run at the tournament level came in Cincinnati, where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets. Zverev has already qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin but will be aiming to end the 2025 season with a good run at the Paris Masters.

Alexander Zverev hopes to remain healthy at the Rolex Paris Masters

Alexander Zverev has struggled with his health this season. The 28-year-old has managed to compete on tour with a back injury that has prevented him from playing at his best on several occasions on the court. But at the Vienna Open, he played without any complaint about the back problem, and that made him reach the finals.

He will hope for the same to happen at the Rolex Paris Masters. During the aforementioned press conference, he revealed that he’s currently enjoying being healthy and hopes not to undergo any more pains:

This year has been different because I wasn’t healthy for a long time, before Vienna and during the last few months. Right now, I’m just enjoying being healthy. That joy might be noticeable on the tennis court. Many of the older players can understand what I mean. It’s a very underestimated feeling to play without pain.

Zverev will now kick off his Paris Masters campaign against Argentina’s star Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the second round after earning a first-round bye. Should he win the match, a potential clash against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina awaits him in the third round of the competition.

Also Read: Italian Tennis Federation President Defends Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal from the Davis Cup Team

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