Alexander Zverev has criticized the ATP over the scheduling of his matches at the Madrid Open which he believes affected his performance in the final on Sunday.
The world No.3 could only manage to win four games during his 6-3, 6-1, loss to teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz who beat both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic earlier in the week. During the encounter, Zverev imploded on court as the match progressed as he produced numerous unforced errors. He hit a total of five double faults and only won 25% (4/16) of his second service points.
Zverev’s lacklustre performance follows two late-night finishes. His semi-final clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas didn’t end until 1:30am Sunday morning local time. Exactly 17 hours before he was meant to start against Alcaraz. The match wasn’t played until after Alcaraz’s three-and-a-half hour win over Djokovic, as well as the women’s final.
“I have to say is that the ATP’s job was an absolute disgrace this week. Two days ago I went to bed at 4:00, 4:30 a.m. Yesterday I went to bed at 5:20 a.m.,” Zverev fumed during his press conference.
“If any normal person goes to bed one night at 4:00 a.m., the next night at 5:00 a.m., it will be a tough time just to be awake for them.’
“And for me to play a final against Carlos Alcaraz, who to me is the best player in the world right now, in a Masters 1000 event, the next day, it is difficult.”
The 25-year-old openly concedes that even if he was feeling fresher, he still might not have beaten Alcaraz who will rise to No.6 in the world on Monday. However, Zverev argues that the quality of the match would have been considerably better. Calling out officials over their management of scheduling at Madrid and other tournaments.
“I had no coordination on my serve, I had no coordination on my groundstrokes. I missed two overheads that were super easy because I see the ball, and everything is moving in my eyes,” he said.
“I had absolutely no chance today of being. I had absolutely 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 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’m a little bit tired of it.”
Continuing to vent his frustration, the German says more attention should be paid on the reason for bad performances on the court instead of the match statistics. Arguing that the treatment he has received has not been fair.
“Here (in Madrid) the chances are being taken away from me and at the end of the day everybody forgets about those things. Nobody talks about it. Everybody says, Yeah, it was a bad match, I made double faults, I didn’t play well and all of that. But look at what is happening the days before. Look at what is actually happening behind the scenes, as well. It’s not quite fair, I think.” He concluded.
Zverev is the first player this year to openly criticize the Madrid Open scheduling but there has also been various frustrations expressed on social media by tennis fans and those working in the sport. Particularly concerning the women’s draw which some believe was made less of a priority than the men’s.
Mark Petchy is a former player and ex-coach of Andy Murray who works as a commentator for the likes of Amazon Prime. Weighing in on the debate, he agrees that the Tour’s have to take some blame in the scheduling.
”It’s an economic schedule not a tennis schedule. The Tour’s are also to blame. You sell these massive properties then have virtually no say in how the end product looks when it matters the most. Like most things in Tennis’ dysfunctional world, it’s madness,” Petchy wrote on Twitter in response to one tweet.
Zverev will return to action next week at the Italian Open where he has a bye in the first round. He confirmed that his father will also be there with him, as well as his coach Sergi Bruguera.
