German tennis player Alexander Zverev lost his cool during his round of 32 match against Yoshihito Nishioka at the Cincinnati Open. During the game, Zverev was heard ranting and was involved in a lengthy conversation with the chair umpire Aurelie Tourte. According to media reports, Zverev was frustrated after hearing music from other courts while trying to serve. Loud music has caused trouble throughout the Cincinnati Open and Zverev complained about it yesterday. Venting out his exasperation about the situation, Zverev also reminded the chair umpire that he is a former Cincinnati Open champion.
“It’s not your fault. This is ridiculous because we’re playing a Masters, we’re not playing a 250. I won this tournament, you know, it’s not like just a random tournament that we’re just playing,” Zverev said.
“There’s literally music coming on break point when I was serving and on break point when he was serving. And the thing is, the distance of the music is exactly the same from that corner as from that corner,” the 26-year-old added.
Following this, Aurelie Tourte called her supervisor Gerry Armstrong through her walkie-talkie. Alexander Zverev sat next to Armstrong and complained about the poor management in the tournament. “Gerry, we’re playing in a Masters series. This court today is me, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Monfils. We were all players who either won Masters series or were playing 10 or more years on the court. I have to serve break point against me at 5-4 with the music blasting and I have to return at 5-5 with break point with me with the music blasting as well,” Zverev said. The German urged Gerry to turn off the music.
The off-court issue did distract Alexander Zverev but it hardly had any impact on the former champion’s performance. Zverev claimed a resounding 7-5, 6-4 win to see off his Japanese opponent Yoshihito Nishioka in round of 32. Zverev required 65 minutes to beat Nishioka yesterday. Earlier, Zverev had outclassed former Cincinnati Open winner Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in the round of 64. In his next match, the 16th-seeded German will face 2019 winner Russian Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16.
Alexander Zverev had been the winner of the Cincinnati Open two years back. He failed to take part in the competition last year due to an ankle injury. After faltering in the Toronto second round last week, Zverev will now be aiming to progress at the Cincinnati Open. An impressive show in Cincinnati will help him gain some confidence ahead of the US Open, scheduled to start from August 28.
Leave feedback about this