Zverev’s conspiracy theory: tennis’ powers are slowing hard courts for Sincaraz

Alexander Zverev is tired of slow hard courts, and he’s not shy about admitting it either. The third-ranked German expressed his views on the matter after his win over Valentin Royer in Shanghai. 

He even pointed his finger at the two-headed monster at the top of the ATP rankings, insinuating that tours are tailoring court speed to the strengths of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.  

“I hate when it’s the same, to be honest,” Zverev noted. “I think the tournament directors are going towards that direction because, obviously, they want Jannik (Sinner) and Carlos (Alcaraz) to do well every tournament, and that’s what they prefer.

“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 different game styles, tennis needs a little bit of variety, and I think we’re lacking that right now.”

Interesting to credit Alcaraz and Sinner with responsibility for a trend that has been in motion for a few decades. Wimbledon slowed its playing surfaces in the early 2000s, switching to a different seed that allowed for a higher bounce, in an effort to introduce more rallies into the grass court game. 

The public’s love affair with the grinding rallies of the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry also played a role. Serve-and-volley tennis has been on the out for a while now, and shot tolerance has become the new buzzword in the sport. 

Roger Federer gave his take during Laver Cup, when he breached the subject with Andy Roddick on the American’s podcast.

“I understand the safety net that the tournament directors see, making the surface slower, because the weaker player, he has to hit extra-amazing shots to beat Sinner, whereas if it’s quick, he can only maybe blast a few at the right time and he gets past,” Federer said.

“So that’s when the tournament directors, they’re like ‘Ahhh I kind of like having Sinner and Alcaraz in the final.’”

Perhaps Sinner and Alcaraz’s rise gives the powers that be another reason to prolong the trend by keeping court speeds slower but, as Sinner says, it isn’t up to him what speed each tournament chooses for his hard courts. 

Sinner was asked about Zverev’s comments following his 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Daniel Altmaier.

“Me and Carlos, we don’t make the courts,” he said. “It’s not our decision. We try to adapt ourselves in every situation. I feel like every week is still a bit different. I’ve played some great tennis even on faster courts. But I’m not making the courts, so I just try to adapt and play my best tennis, and that’s it.”