Alexander Zverev Claims Tennis Organizers Are Slowing Courts to Help Alcaraz, Sinner

Alexander Zverev thinks that tournament organizers throughout the sport of tennis are keeping courts slower ensure that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner make deep runs.

Speaking on the court after his win over Valentin Royer at the Shanghai Masters, Zverev claimed that tournament directors were taking variety out of the types of courts to help Alcaraz and Sinner because they "prefer" them having success:

"I hate when it's the same, to be honest. I think the tournament directors are going towards that direction because, obviously, they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament, and that's what they prefer. Nowadays, you can play almost the same way on every surface. I don't like it. I'm not a fan of it. I think tennis needs different game styles, tennis needs a little bit of variety, and I think we're lacking that right now."

Zverev isn't the only person who has made this specific claim. It was first put out there by Roger Federer last month when he was a guest on Andy Roddick's podcast.

There have also been other active players who have raised questions about the speed of surfaces being used, but not in a way that suggests anything nefarious was going on.

Jessica Pegula called the surface at Rod Laver Stadium "slower than a clay court" in the wake of her third-round loss to unseeded Olga Danilovic, but she also blamed it on the weather factors with the match taking place on a cool evening.

A majority of tournaments throughout the course of an ATP season are played on hard courts, including the Australian Open and U.S. Open. Wimbledon is the only one of the four grand slam events contested on grass, with the French Open utilizing a clay surface.

Alcaraz has dominated on all three surfaces dating back to his breakout season in 2022. He has won six grand slam titles during that span, with the Australian Open being the only one that has eluded him.

Sinner has won the Australian Open in each of the past two years, as well as Wimbledon this year. He also reached the finals at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open.

Hard and grass courts generally play faster, but the ball bounces on differently on the two surfaces. It will typically stay lower on grass, favoring players with a big serve and good volley game.

Both Alcaraz and Sinner have very well-rounded styles of play that make them very difficult to beat on any surface.