Alexander Zverev booked his spot among the last four players at the 2023 Roland Garros, but he was criticized after his match.
The 26-year-old German defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry in four sets and one year later, he will return to the Roland Garros semifinals at the Court Philippe-Chatrier. Event, round, and court, which saw him go probably through his worst experience as a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour.
Happy that he's through to the semifinals, Zverev was talking to Alex Corretja on the court after his win, and he was in a very good mood, giving very honest answers. He was asked what was going through his head when he was serving for the match, and well, the German was honest.
"I just had to remember that I have a pair of balls as well that I can use. Sometimes, that is the only way to go. But the 5-4 game was incredible from both of us, he was hitting the ball extremely hard, I was hitting the ball extremely hard. At the end of the day, I think, I hope I deserved to win."
Former WTA player, Pam Shriver noticed his comment and she apparently didn't like it. The American took to Twitter to express her disapproval with German's statement about 'having two balls', and she didn't hold back.
"Stupid, insensitive, pathetic, tone deaf, idiotic, impulsive, ignorant, and disgusting thing to say. The Anti Role Model is SZ."
Shriver's comments come in interesting times as players are constantly facing online abuse, and one of the quarterfinalists, Holger Rune recently clashed with one of the online abusers. Moreover, the French Tennis Federation developed a technology that should protect players from hateful comments, and so it will be interesting to see if Zverev notices the comment, or possibly reacts to it.
During the post-match press conference, the German was already a bit more serious when he reflected on his success. He reached the third consecutive Roland Garros semifinal, and especially after last year's injury, it's a significant milestone in his career.
"Maybe looking at the history of last year a little bit, but I'm in the semifinal of a Grand Slam. I'm happy to be in a semifinal of a Grand Slam any time that I'm there. But, of course, for me the tournament is not over. I'm happy to be here, but I know that hopefully I have two more matches ahead, and they're not going to get easier."
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