Lawn classic Zverev criticizes Wimbledon organizers
Alexander Zverev cheers after his victory. photo
© Alastair Grant/AP/dpa
On the fourth day of the tournament, Alexander Zverev was finally allowed onto the pitch. Before that he had to wait because of the rain. The Olympic champion showed only limited understanding for this.
Alexander Zverev has criticized the organizers of Wimbledon for the appointments of the past few days.
Because of the heavy rain in London, the Olympic tennis champion played his first-round game against Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer on Thursday instead of Tuesday. Other players such as record Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic or the Italian Jannik Sinner had already played their second round games in London on Wednesday.
“Novak has won 23 Grand Slam tournaments. It’s logical that he plays every game here on Center Court,” said Zverev. “He’ll never play second place anywhere, and that’s totally understandable.” However, the fact that the 21-year-old Sinner was scheduled for the second time in the second largest stadium on Wednesday, while Zverev had not yet played, caused a lack of understanding among the German number one.
Zverev has to play again today
“I like Jannik very much – as a person and as a player,” Zverev said in advance. “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,” said Zverev. “I don’t know whether you have to put Jannik on a pitch 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,” said Zverev.
The delays on Tuesday and Wednesday forced Zverev to play again today. The 26-year-old now has to deal with the Japanese lucky loser Yosuke Watanuki after his lackluster three-set win against Brouwer. “There is a reason why a Grand Slam tournament lasts two weeks: because we need breaks between the best-of-five matches,” said Zverev. “Breaks that I won’t have in the next few days. Looking ahead to the second week, that’s definitely not an advantage physically.”
dpa
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