Zverev calls out China Open chiefs after being forced to play until 3am

Alexander Zverev has become the latest player to call out tennis chiefs over the issue of match scheduling. The 26-year-old defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7 (4) 6-2 6-1 in Beijing to progress to the quarter-finals of the China Open in a match that didn’t start until after midnight. 

In the end, play was wrapped up at 2.40am local time as he defeated his Spanish foe over three sets. Zverev wasn’t best pleased about being forced to play into the early hours of Sunday morning and made his feelings clear in the immediate aftermath.

“I’m happy with the win. Obviously, it’s difficult to play til 3am. I’m not sure it was the right call to keep us on this court. I think we should’ve changed courts.

“We should’ve gone on. There’s so many great courts on the stadium. So many opportunities where we could’ve played. I’m not sure we should’ve waited til past midnight to start the match, to be honest.”

Zverev raised similar concerns at the Madrid Open last year after a late finish to his semi-final match against Stefanos Tsitisipas meant he went to bed at 4am the night before taking on World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the final. 

“The ATP’s job was an absolute disgrace this week,” he said. “To play a final against Carlos Alcaraz, who for me is the best player in the world right now, in a Masters 1000 event… it is difficult.

“I had no coordination. I had no coordination on my serve, I had no coordination on my groundstrokes. I missed two overheads that were super easy because I see the ball and everything is moving in my eyes.”

Late finishes have become an increasing problem in the sport. Elena Rybakina was left, in her own words, “destroyed” by a 3am finish to her quarter-final match with Daria Kasatkina in Montreal two months ago. She was noticeably off her game the next day when she played Liudmila Samsonova in the semis with her post-midnight marathon clearly taking its toll.

“It was horrible, to be honest,” said Rybakina. “It’s not easy because they [the injuries] are not even because of the amount of tennis I played or how long the matches were. It’s really tough to recover when you go to sleep at 5am.”