Alexander Zverev calls for rule change after controversy in his Madrid Open win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

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Alexander Zverev has reached the round of 16 at the Madrid Open, but his latest win certainly wasn’t without controversy.

Zverev was booed by Madrid Open fans in his third round meeting with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in which he came from behind to win.

German star Zverev is the top seed at the Madrid Open, and won his clash with the Spaniard 2-6, 7-6(7-3), 7-6(7-0) to reach the last 16.

He now meets 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo at the ATP Masters 1000 event, having just won the BMW Open.

The world number two needed almost three hours to beat Fokina, although their match was delayed by a lengthy rant from the German.

Alexander Zverev wants rule change after electronic line call dispute

He argued with chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani over an electronic line call, before taking a photograph of the mark left by the ball and later sharing it on social media.

Speaking to Ziggo Sport after the match and before his post on Instagram, Zverev said: “Well Mohamed knew. I mean, he knew, Ale knew that it was out.

READ MORE: What Alexander Zverev said to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the net after knocking him out of the Madrid Open

“Sometimes, you know, there’s mistakes, and the ball is like *this*, and touching line, not touching line, that one is like, it’s very clear.

“I’m still debating whether I should post that picture on social media or not, but we’ll see. Yeah, it’s just sometimes how it is.

“I think maybe after the matches they need to look at the system maybe to readjust it a little bit because there was a few… I mean my serve that Ale was complaining about was also out.

“I saw it afterwards when we changed over. That shot that he hit was obviously very clearly out. Yeah, just a malfunction in the system I feel like.”

ATP and WTA chiefs may need to solve clay-court issue after Alexander Zverev outburst

Zverev was left in complete dismay more than anything else at the call from the electronic system, which seemingly failed to realise that the ball wasn’t in play.

And as opposed to wanting Lahyani to overrule the decision, the world number two simply wanted the umpire to have a look at the mark.

READ MORE: Dominic Thiem says what Alexander Zverev did against Ben Shelton in the BMW Open final which was ‘unbelievable’

But he wouldn’t budge, and many of those inside the stadium were left unimpressed by Zverev taking a photograph for evidence.

And that is seemingly a worrying trend that tennis chiefs may now have to deal with on clay, with Aryna Sabalenka having done the same at the recent Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.