"We get it, Stef has won, can we just please play on this court" - Casper Ruud recalls funny incident when Alexander Zverev was irked by on-court announcer
Casper Ruud recently recalled a funny on-court incident involving himself, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas at last year's Cincinnati Masters.
Ruud and Zverev were locked in battle in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati just as Tsitsipas' match against Felix Auger-Aliassime came to an end on a nearby court. The announcer from the adjoining court excitedly called out the Greek's name loudly on a number of occasions after his win, which disturbed Zverev and Ruud, leading to a rebuke from the German.
During a recent interview with Eurosport, Ruud was asked about the funniest memory from his tennis career so far, and he was quick to mention the incident in Cincinnati.
"We had a quite funny incident last year when I was playing Sascha (Alexander) Zverev in Cincinnati," Ruud said, narrating the incident. "The two biggest courts (in Cincinnati) lie like right next to each other. Tsitsipas was playing at the same time that we were playing. He had just won, so the announcer went on pretty loud and crazy on the speaker."
"He said Stefanos Tsitsipas like eight times or something like this. And Sascha was like, 'Alright, we get it, Stef has won. Can we just please play on this court?'," he continued.
The loud announcements were disturbing at the time, but the two players later saw the funny side.
"We weren't on the biggest court. So I remember Sascha was joking about the announcer being a Tsitsipas fan, to put it this way," Ruud said further, with a chuckle.
Ruud ended up losing in straight sets to the German, who went on to win the tournament.
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Is Alexander Zverev a contender to win the 2022 French Open?
The towering German has found some form ahead of the French Open. He had a poor start to the 2022 season, exiting in the early rounds on quite a few occasions. However, he has looked much better during the claycourt season, reaching the final in Madrid and the semifinals in Monte-Carlo and Rome.
The third seed cannot be counted out as a contender for the French Open title. However, there will be some major obstacles to overcome, primarily in the shape of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Rafael Nadal.
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Zverev's recorded his best result at the claycourt Grand Slam last year, when he reached the semifinals.