Alexander Zverev says courts slowed to help Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner

Germany's Alexander Zverev used his post-match remarks in Shanghai on Saturday to criticize increasingly uniform court conditions, arguing tournament decisions are tilting the sport toward Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

After beating Valentin Royer 6-4, 6-4, the World No. 3 said he's frustrated by surfaces that play similarly week to week and feels like they are being intentionally slowed down.

"I hate when it's the same, to be honest," Zverev said on court after the match. "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."

His comments arrive as top-ranked Alcaraz of Spain and No. 2 Sinner of Italy continue to shape the men's tour. They are the only players to hold No. 1 since June 2024 and split the four majors this season. Each is also coming off a win as Sinner won the China Open last week, while Alcaraz captured the Japan Open before skipping Shanghai with a left ankle injury.

Zverev's stance echoes views that retired tennis great Roger Federer shared two weeks ago on the "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast. Federer also said he believed tournament organizers were shaping court speeds to create finals matches between Sinner and Alcaraz. The 20-time major winner said there needs to be an adjustment to court speed to create more variety in tennis.

"That's why we, the tournament directors, we need to fix it," Federer said. "We need to have not only fast courts, but what we would want to see is Alcaraz or Sinner figure it out on lightning-fast (courts), and then have the same match on super-slow (courts) and see how that matches up. ... It's because the tournament directors have allowed with the ball speed and the court speed that every week is basically the same."

--Field Level Media