“Absolute disgrace,” Alexander Zverev slams ATP for their horrible match scheduling
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Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev, who was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Madrid tournament on Sunday, said that the Spaniard is “the best player in the world at the moment,” but lamented the night hours that he has had to contend with in this and other tournaments, saying that they have “taken away opportunities” to win. He also called the ATP’s actions a fiasco and criticised their terrible match scheduling.
The Masters 1000 tournament began on May 1st. The tournament’s two men’s semifinal matches were planned for May 7th. While Djokovic and Alcaraz faced off in the first semifinal, Zverev faced off against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second. Even while everything appeared to be running smoothly, the match’s timing stole the show. Alexander Zverev expressed his displeasure with the scheduling of the semifinal match, which reportedly ended close to midnight, with the finals slated for today.
“I am a little bit of tired of it”- Alexander Zverev
The semifinal match of the Madrid Open between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev was planned for 9 p.m, with the women’s final scheduled for 6 p.m. The match began around 9.15 p.m, following the coin toss and warm-up. The match was a three-set thriller since both players were playing their best tennis.
The fans were ecstatic about the match. However, many people overlooked the passage of time. The thriller, which lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes, ended around 11 p.m. Even while it may appear to be insignificant, it warranted special attention in light of today’s finals. The Madrid Open men’s singles finals took place today at 6.30 p.m, as scheduled.
Looking at the timings, it goes without saying that the players did not get the appropriate amount of rest before preparing for the finals. Expressing his dissatisfaction with this, Alexander Zverev remarked, “Carlos is playing unbelievably. There is no doubt about it. But one thing I have to say is that the work of the ATP this week has been an absolute disaster. Two days ago I went to bed at half-past four or four, and yesterday at twenty past five. If any normal person goes to bed one night at four and then at five, he would have a hard time just being awake.”
Zverev assured in the press conference that it is not easy in these conditions to play a final against Carlos Alcaraz, the best player in the world right now, in a Masters 1000. “Today I have not had coordination with my service, or with my groundstrokes. I have missed two shots that were super easy because I look at the ball and everything moves,” he said. “I don’t want to take anything away from Carlos,” he stressed, “and today, even if he had been fresh, I probably wouldn’t have beaten him, but it definitely would have been a better match.” The final was decided by 6-3 and 6-1 in an hour of play.
“But I had absolutely no chance today of being myself. I had no chance of playing my level. This is not the first time this is happening. I mean, in Acapulco, I played until 5:00 a.m. I was awake until 8:30 a.m. This is happening on a weekly basis and to be honest, I am a little bit of tired of it,” the German added.
Also Read: “Right now, you’re the best player ” Alexander Zverev acknowledges Carlos Alcaraz’s Madrid win
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)