Zverev calls out China Open chiefs after being pressured to play till 3am

Alexander Zverev has turn into the most recent participant to name out tennis chiefs over the problem of match scheduling. The 26-year-old defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7 (4) 6-2 6-1 in Beijing to progress to the quarter-finals of the China Open in a match that did not begin till after midnight. 

In the top, play was wrapped up at 2.40am native time as he defeated his Spanish foe over three units. Zverev wasn’t finest happy about being pressured to play into the early hours of Sunday morning and made his emotions clear within the speedy aftermath.

“I’m pleased with the win. Obviously, it’s troublesome to play til 3am. I’m undecided it was the suitable name to maintain us on this courtroom. I feel we must always’ve modified 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 til past midnight to start the match, to be honest.”

Zverev raised similar concerns at the Madrid Open last year after a late finish to his semi-final match against Stefanos Tsitisipas meant he went to bed at 4am the night before taking on World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the final. 

“The ATP’s job was an absolute disgrace this week,” he said. “To play a final against Carlos Alcaraz, who for me is the best player in the world right now, in a Masters 1000 event… it is difficult.

“I had no coordination. I had no coordination on my serve, I had no coordination on my groundstrokes. I missed two overheads that were super easy because I see the ball and everything is moving in my eyes.”

Late finishes have become an increasing problem in the sport. Elena Rybakina was left, in her own words, “destroyed” by a 3am end to her quarter-final match with Daria Kasatkina in Montreal two months in the past. She was noticeably off her recreation the following day when she performed Liudmila Samsonova within the semis along with her post-midnight marathon clearly taking its toll.

“It was horrible, to be honest,” stated Rybakina. “It’s not easy because they [the injuries] are not even because of the amount of tennis I played or how long the matches were. It’s really tough to recover when you go to sleep at 5am.”