Alexander Zverev expressed his displeasure with the 2023 China Open’s schedule after being forced to sit through a late-night finish to the second round.
After dropping the first-set tie-break, Zverev recovered to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7(4) 6-2 6-1 in the second round, advancing him to his tenth quarterfinal of the season on Saturday.
Due to the delayed start of the match between Alexander Zverev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, it ended later than scheduled. After his victory, Zverev spoke with the media in a post-match interview to explain the situation he and the Spaniard had to deal with as a result of the match’s ending at 2:30 a.m.
Zverev questioned the necessity of playing at such a late hour and expressed his anger at the choice to keep the players on the court. He said the organizers should have considered about moving their match to another court in the stadium rather than making them wait.
Zverev stated his remarks in the on-court interview and said: “I’m happy with the win. Obviously, it’s difficult to play til 3 a.m. I’m not sure it was the right call to keep us on this court. I think we should’ve changed courts. We should’ve gone on. There are so many great courts in the stadium. So many opportunities where we could’ve played. I’m not sure we should’ve waited til past midnight to start the match, to be honest.”
Zverev unhappy with tournament scheduling after Fokina match finishes at 2:40 am:
“I’m happy with the win. Obviously, it’s difficult to play til 3 am. I’m not sure it was the right call to keep us on this court. I think we should’ve changed courts. We should’ve gone on. There’s… pic.twitter.com/SUx95oI65b
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 30, 2023
Zverev in Beijing, ranking, and results in 2023
WLLWWWWLWW Currently ranked no.10, the German has achieved a 48-21 match record in 2023. Alexander is now competing in Beijing where he managed to beat the world no.133 Diego Schwartzman 6-72 6-1 6-4 and the world no.25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-74 6-2 6-1.
Alexander Zverev will face the world no.23 Nicolas Jarry in the quarter. Their current head to head is 3-2 for Zverev.
Alexander has won 2 titles in 2023 in Hamburg and Chengdu.
Zverev won 21 titles in his career: 7 on hard courts, 7 on clay courts and 7 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
He is also scheduled to play in Tokyo (Rakuten Japan Open) after Shanghai. The main draw will start on the 4th of October.
Alexander Zverev |
| Embed from Getty Images |
