"Tennis must have the most insane scheduling of any sport" - Fans react to Alexander Zverev expressing concern on 2:40 am finish at China Open
Alexander Zverev let out his frustration about the moonlit conclusion of his second-round showdown at the 2023 China Open with Alejandro Davidovich Fomina. This drew a lot of reactions from several tennis fans on Twitter.
Alexander Zverev punched his ticket to the quarterfinals for the tenth time this season, sending the Spaniard packing in a thrilling three-set battle on Saturday, September 30.
Due to a hiccup in the kick-off, the showdown between these two players dragged on till the wee hours, leaving them burning the midnight oil until 2:40 AM. In a post-match interview after his victory, Alexander Zverev shed light on the scheduling of the matches.
The German acknowledged his joy at the victory while voicing his displeasure with the "late-finish" issue. He was severely critical of the move to keep the players waiting at one court while suggesting that other courts in the stadium could have been used to easily solve the problem.
“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 so many great courts on the stadium. So many opportunities where we could’ve played. I’m not sure we should’ve waited till past midnight to start the match, to be honest,” Zverev said.
This stirred the pot for tennis enthusiasts who flocked to Twitter (now X) to express their thoughts. One of the fans threw shade at the ATP and WTA for their lackluster match scheduling.
"ATP/WTA need to work on preventing these scheduling issues. This has been happening too often this season", they posted.
Another fan jumped on the Alexander Zverev bandwagon and felt let down for the German, as he always seems to be the one getting the short end of the stick.
"He is so right the scheduling is terrible and its always sascha wo need to play the whole night thats ridiculois thats unfair", the tweet read.
Yet another Twitter user drew parallels between scheduling in tennis and other sports while highlighting how it could affect the crowd.
"Tennis must have the most insane scheduling of any sport. No other sports people would put up with playing at 3am and it isn't great for crowds either"
Here are a few more reactions from the fans:
Alexander Zverev vocalized his disappointment at Wimbledon’s scheduling this year
The former No. 2, now 26 years old, has been one of the players most hit by the rainout, having had to play his first three matches in a row.
After losing to Matteo Berrettini in the third round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, Alexander Zverev addressed the media and voiced his opinion on the scheduling issue, saying:
“I like Jannik very much – as a person and as a player, He’s an incredible player and will still win a lot. But there were other names in the draw who hadn’t played the first round yet. Like Matteo Berrettini who was already in the final here, or me. I don’t know if Jannik has to be put on a court with a roof for a second-round match”.
“There were other names who have achieved more in tennis than Jannik. I think they had options there. There is a reason why a Grand Slam tournament lasts two weeks, because we need breaks between the best-of-five matches. Breaks that I won’t have in the next few days. Looking ahead to the second week, that’s definitely not an advantage physically”, Zverev stated.