World No.6 Alexander Zverev believes the rising stars of the men’s game needs to follow the example set by the likes of Roger Federer instead of being caught up in controversy.
The German made the comments shortly after his fourth round exit from the US Open. At the tournament there has been a lot of attention focused on Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, who has become somewhat of a villain. It started when he was heckled by the crowd after snatching a towel from a ball boy before throwing it onto the ground. Shortly after that match, he went on to troll the crowd during his on-court interview. Something he later apologised for.
Medvedev is not the only person who has made headlines for other things than his tennis. Nick Kyrgios has become renowned for his fiery temperament and numerous clashes with match officials. The most recent being at the Cincinnati Masters where he was fined $113,000.
“There’s a lot of young guys that do things on the tennis court that maybe is not the best thing to do. I don’t want the next generation to be known for that.” Zverev said during his press conference.
Elaborating further, the world No.6 then took a swipe at Stefanos Tsitsipas. Suggesting that the Greek player uses tactics, other than tennis, to distract his opponent. The two players have clashed before. Following Tsitsipas’ win over Zverev at the 2018 Rogers Cup, he said it was an ‘absolute pathetic match I don’t even think he played well.’
“I think a lot of the times Tsitsipas gets over the line with changing his shoes 15 times in a tournament, going to the bathroom in the middle of a set. Stuff like that…” Zverev said.
“Let your tennis racquet talk for you kind of. You don’t need to do things to distract the opponent, try to win that way.” He added.
Medvedev was also criticised by the reigning ATP Finals champion. However, Zverev believes he is able to get away with his behaviour due to his recent surge on the tour. Medvedev is through to the quarter-finals of the US Open and reach three consecutive hard court finals prior to the grand slam.
“Medvedev is obviously going over the line a little bit now. But he’s winning. He’s in the (US Open) quarter-finals. He’s playing Stan. At the end of the day it all doesn’t matter if you’re winning.” He explained.
“I hope some of the NextGen or the young guys will kind of learn from the older guys like Roger and Rafa who have been unbelievable over their career, really let their racquet talk for them, not try to distract opponents, something like that.’
“They’re winning right now. I hope that kind of changes in the NextGen, as well.”
At present there are two Next Gen members in the world’s top 30 – Tsitsipas at eighth and Felix Auger-Aliassime at 19th. Since the creation of the concept, which promotes players under the age of 21, Zverev is the only member (past or present) to win multiple Masters titles.