"Difficult to please everyone" - Feliciano Lopez on Djokovic and Zverev criticism
ATP
Alexander Zverev was very unhappy with the way the 2022 Madrid Open organizers scheduled semi-final matches, believing he was at a disadvantage.
The German's semi-final match at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in the Spanish capital started several hours after the one between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz finished.
As a result, his semi-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas ended an hour after midnight, and by the time Zverev completed everything necessary after playing a tennis match, he found himself going to bed at 4 a.m.
Only 12 hours later, he had to step onto the court again with less-than-ideal preparation for his final match. He wasn't happy with it, calling the scheduling disgraceful, and Novak Djokovic backed his comments.
The Serbian player explained that he wanted to solve the situation a few years ago when he was the head of the Player's Association.
"You cannot end your semi-final match at 1am and play the final the following day. I understand that they want to sell more tickets by scheduling a night session on Saturday, but it may cause problems."
"The organisers should talk to players before making this kind of decisions. When I was the President of the Player’s Council several years ago, I tried to solve this issue. But still, nothing changed."
The Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano Lopez heard the comments of all players complaining, and he responded to the criticism, explaining that it is very difficult to please everyone involved.
"In the end it is very difficult to please everyone, we have been aware for some time that it is over late, that there are players, who, especially on the day of the semifinals, have a small disadvantage compared to the first to qualify."
"But there are commitments with international televisions that affect the schedule, the same as the men's final is scheduled after the News of Spanish Television."
