Zverev claims courts are being made to suit Sinner and Alcaraz

Saturday, 04 October 2025 at 23:27

byJordan Reynolds

Alexander Zverev has watched Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominate the ATP Tour since the start of 2024, but he believes tournament organizers are favoring the duo.

Despite a stellar career that includes an Olympic Gold Medal, two ATP Finals titles, and reaching No. 2 in the world, Zverev has never won a Grand Slam. That includes losses in the 2024 French Open and 2025 Australian Open finals against Alcaraz and Sinner.

By contrast, Alcaraz and Sinner have split the last eight Grand Slams. 38-year-old Novak Djokovic's level at such a late stage of his career is excellent, but he admits beating his younger rivals over five sets is very tough.

Roger Federer made some interesting comments at the recent 2025 Laver Cup. The 20-time Grand Slam champion suggested that courts were being slowed because tournament organizers wanted Alcaraz and Sinner to play in the final.

The courts at the 2025 Shanghai Masters could be used as evidence to back up Federer's words. Having been among the fastest on the ATP Tour in previous years, they are noticeably slower at this year's edition.

Zverev's disdain for the changed conditions was evident when he spoke after beating Valentin Royer in Shanghai. The German said he felt courts worldwide were playing too similarly, and repeated Federer's point about it being done to help Alcaraz and Sinner.

"I hate when [court speeds are] the same. And I know that the tournament directors are going towards that direction because obviously they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament...we always had different surfaces -- you couldn't play the same tennis the same way on a grass court, hard court, and a clay court."

While opinions differ on whether it is a positive development, Zverev's point about the courts being more similar than in previous years seems more accurate than Federer's words about them being slower.

For instance, this year's Cincinnati Open was undoubtedly slower than many previous editions, where it was a very fast hard court, but the Miami Open, a slow and gritty court for many years, played quicker than in several other iterations.

The effect is that tournaments are more alike in speed. Similarly, grass courts have slowed down a lot, but some clay-court tournaments like the Madrid Open do not play to the stereotype of events on the dirt being slow, making the surfaces more indistinguishable.

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Variety across the surfaces dying out is a legitimate concern. Zverev's statement that this is being done to help Alcaraz and Sinner could cause some tension in the locker room, and it would be interesting to know if other players share that concern.

Alcaraz has been vocal when he thinks conditions are too fast. He complained about it at the 2024 Paris Masters, and also did not like the 2024 Cincinnati Open's courts, which were more rapid than this year's edition.

Because of his status as the world's No. 1 and a worldwide fan favorite, organizers considering what conditions Alcaraz might like so he will participate in a tournament is not a far-fetched theory.