Alexander Zverev made his feelings clear about the direction tennis is moving in after his second-round match in Shanghai.
The world number three played 24-year-old French qualifier Valentin Royer in his opener.
Despite struggling with injury during the latter stages of the match, Zverev defeated Royer in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Like many of his ATP Tour rivals, Zverev had a lot to say about the conditions at the Shanghai Masters during his post-match interview.
Never afraid to cause controversy, the German star claimed that tournament directors have been carefully choosing the surfaces to favor two players in particular.
Alexander Zverev claims surfaces are being chosen to favor 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.”
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 isn’t the only big name to have complained, as Roger Federer recently gave his thoughts on court surfaces and how tournament directors are trying to help Alcaraz and Sinner make the finals.
“The tournament directors need to fix it,” said Federer.
“I understand the safety net that tournament directors see in making the surface slower, for 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 it gets past.
“That’s what the tournament directors [think], I kind of like Sinner and Alcaraz in the finals, you know, it kind of works for the game.”
Fans have certainly enjoyed watching Sinner and Alcaraz contest several finals this year, but that’s not to say the tournament directors should cater to the pair to this degree.
Zverev isn’t happy, but he won’t want to let the conditions get to him, as he now tries to focus on recovery ahead of his third-round match.
‘It’s been a struggle’ – Alexander Zverev wonders if he will ever be healthy again after latest injury
The three-time Grand Slam finalist was seen struggling during the latter stages of his win over Royer, as he explained what happened after the match.
“I don’t know, I landed funny on my toe, and then after that, I barely could do a step,” said Zverev.
“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 the tournament began, Zverev said his injuries were ‘getting quite annoying’, as he continued to manage a back issue.
If he can recover in time, Zverev will play another Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech, in the third round.
At Wimbledon, Zverev lost to Rinderknech in the first round, suffering his earliest Grand Slam exit in six years.
He’ll be looking for revenge in Shanghai, with a place in the last-16 up for grabs.
Placed in what is arguably the weaker half of the draw, Zverev is in with a great chance of reaching his first Masters 1000 final of the year and won’t want to pass up on the opportunity.
Zverev will play Rinderknech in the third round of the 2025 Shanghai Masters on Monday, October 6.
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