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Alexander Zverev criticises court changes, insists Alcaraz and Sinner are being favoured

Originally posted on HITC | By George Patten | Last updated Oct 3, 2025 7:32 PM ET

After his second-round match in Shanghai, Alexander Zverev didn’t hold back on his thoughts about where tennis is heading.

The world number three faced 24-year-old French qualifier Valentin Royer in his opening match.

Despite dealing with an injury late in the match, Zverev came through in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-4.

Like several others on the ATP Tour, he spoke up about the playing conditions at the Shanghai Masters when asked afterward.

Known for speaking his mind, Zverev went as far as to suggest that tournament organisers are shaping surfaces to suit a couple of specific players.

Alexander Zverev believes surfaces are being set up to suit Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

During his on-court interview, Zverev had this to say about the similarity between the conditions at the Shanghai Masters and the rest of the tour.

“I hate when it’s the same,” he said. “I think the tournament directors are going towards that direction because they want Jannik [Sinner] and Carlos [Alcaraz] to do well at every tournament, and that’s what they prefer.”

Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images

The 28-year-old doesn’t remember seeing such consistency with the court surfaces before in his career.

“I’ve been on tour for ten, over ten years, 11, 12 years now actually, and we always had different surfaces, you always had tournaments which you liked, always had tournaments which you didn’t like so much,” said Zverev.

“You couldn’t play the same tennis the same way on a grass court, hard court, or clay court. Nowadays, you can play almost the same way on every surface.

“I don’t like it, I’m not a fan of it, I think tennis needs game styles, tennis needs a little bit of variety, and I think we’re lacking that right now.”

Zverev admits to injury struggles after Shanghai opener

The three-time Grand Slam finalist looked to be in discomfort during the latter stages of his win over Royer and spoke about the issue in his post-match comments.

“I don’t know, I landed funny on my toe, and then after that, I barely could do a step,” said Zverev.

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

“We’ll see what it is. Not happy to end the match like that, of course, but I think I’m definitely happy with the level of the first round in a Masters. That was quite good. I think he’s playing very well.

“Moving forward, seeing if I’ll ever be healthy this year again because it’s been a struggle.”

Before play started at the tournament, Zverev admitted his injuries were ‘getting quite annoying’, as he continued to deal with back issues.

If fit enough to take part in the third round, Zverev will face another Frenchman in Arthur Rinderknech. Zverev will be out for revenge when they meet in Shanghai, with a spot in the last-16 at stake.

With a favourable draw giving him a clear path through one of the weaker halves of this year’s event, Zverev has an opportunity to push for his first Masters 1000 final of 2025 and won’t want to let it slip away due to health issues.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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