"F**king up whole tournament" -Alexander Zverev goes on massive tirade against umpires, throws his racket in anger in dramatic Shanghai Masters moment
Alexander Zverev erupted at the chair umpire during his third-round victory over Tallon Griekspoor at the Shanghai Masters after a disputed call. Furious with the officiating, the German launched into a tirade, calling out errors in his match and previous ones, accusing umpires of mistakes.
Zverev defeated Griekspoor 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(5) in a highly contested battle. However, the match was marred by controversy involving Zverev's furious tirade during the first set directed toward chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani.
During a rally at 5-5, 40-40 in the first set, the chair umpire called a fault against Zverev, claiming he hit the ball after it had bounced twice. The German vehemently disputed the call, insisting he had reached the ball in time.
However, replays that were not shown to the players and umpires, indicated a double bounce had occurred, confirming the umpire's decision.
"How on earth are you calling that? I got the ball completely clean?" Zverev shouted. "Let me say something, you guys umpires are f***ing up the whole tournament this year. Completely."
Zverev mentioned Carlos Bernardes' decision against Stanislas Wawrinka from the previous day and Frances Tiafoe's controversy just an hour before his.
"I’ve played more than 80 matches this year, with injuries, with illness, with everything. And I cannot be bothered to go to China in October for you to screw up this. This is not possible. I’ve been playing for nine months now," he added.
The German threw his racket soon after and received a code violation. Griekspoor won the next point and led the set 6-5. During the changeover, Zverev continued his tirade and claimed he has been playing through illnesses for the umpires to decide matches.
"I have a Grand Slam final, I lose it because of you guys' mistake. I’m here running my a*** off with the illness, you guys still do mistakes," Zverev said furiously.
"You guys decide the whole match. You guys decide the outcome of tournaments every week. What am I putting effort for in? " he continued.
Chair umpire Lahyani attempted to calm Zverev, repeatedly explaining that mistakes happen and urging him to accept the situation. The umpire said the player's outburst was "enough" at this point.
Zverev erupted again and stated:
"It’s enough now? Because you’re sitting on a comfortable chair whilst I’m running my a*** off at 9pm and I've been doing it for nine months now this year."
"The moment we come to Asia, we’ve already played all four Grand Slams" - Alexander Zverev continued furious tirade at Shanghai Masters
Minutes after his comment about an umpire making mistakes during his Grand Slam final, Alexander Zverev attempted to backtrack and said (via Express.co.uk):
"I’m not saying I would have won Roland Garros, I’m not saying that. But that, then in Hamburg, I don’t say I would have won the tournament but it didn’t help."
He added that the players come to the Asia swing after a tiring season including all four Grand Slams.
"Ask us players, the moment we come to Asia, we’ve already played all four Grand Slams, we’ve played 80 matches," Zverev said.
Following the controversy, Zverev faced a tough tiebreaker against Tallon Griekspoor, ultimately emerging victorious. The Dutch player showed strength in the second set, pushing the match to a decider. Zverev clinched the win in yet another tiebreaker and will now meet Belgium's David Goffin in the next round of the Shanghai Masters.