For the past two seasons, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have split all eight Grand Slams between them evenly. It’s the clearest example of their dominance, a dominance that looks set to continue in 2026. The last time eight Slams were won by two players was all the way back in 2006-2007, when Roger Federer won four and Rafael Nadal, two. But recently it was Federer himself who posed the question of whether the Sincaraz reign was just down to their superiority or if there was something more at play.

According to Federer, the increasing uniformity of slower court conditions has stripped tennis of unpredictability in a deliberate choice to ensure more Sincaraz finals. “This benefits those who need to hit extraordinary winners to beat Sinner, because if the court is fast, they might only need a couple of well-timed shots to win. Tournament directors think: ‘I’d rather have Sinner and Alcaraz in the final, you know?’ In a way, it works for tennis,” said the Swiss maestro on Andy Roddick’s ‘Served’ podcast.

And it appears Alexander Zverev is of the same mind, echoing Federer’s opinion in the ongoing debate. After overcoming Valentine Royer in the Round of 64 at the Shanghai Masters, Alexander Zverev stirred the pot by sharing his thoughts on what he sees as tournament organizers’ bias toward  Alcaraz and Sinner. In an X post by journalist Christian’s Court, Zverev’s comments quickly gained traction. “I hate when [court speeds are] the same. And I know that the tournament directors are going towards that direction because obviously they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament,” he said.

The World No. 3 continued, “We always had different surfaces, you couldn’t play the same tennis the same way on a grass court, hard court, and a clay court. Nowadays you can play almost the same way on every surface.”

However, the German’s comments come at a time where the last five of his six Grand Slam exits have been at the hands of players who weren’t Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, igniting a storm online. Even Jannik Sinner responded by saying, “Speed of the courts? Carlos and I don’t make the courts, it is not our decision… I just try to adapt, play the best I can and that’s it.”

Fans are calling Zverev out for what they see as yet another round of excuses. So what did they say?

Alexander Zverev’s words spark the excuse debate

One user blasted him outright, calling Alexander Zverev “a loser” and accusing him of being “so desperate to be in the conversation with Carlos and Sinner”, insisting he’s “not even close” to their level. The sentiment was echoed across the board, as another fan quipped that the German “can’t handle the fact that he’ll forever be no match for those two.”

The implication was clear: Sinner and Alcaraz are operating in a different stratosphere right now, and Zverev’s words only made that gap feel wider. The ATP points gap says it all: the difference between World No. 2 (Sinner) and World no. 3 (Zverev) is greater than Zverev and World no. 50 (Marcos Giron). There’s 4,970 points differentiating Sinner and Zverev, while astonishingly enough, there’s 4,940 points between Zverev and Giron.

Others took aim at what they saw as a familiar pattern of excuses from the Olympic champion. “Excuses, excuses, excuses,” wrote one user, pointing out that players like Sinner and Alcaraz have flourished regardless of the surface – be it clay, grass, or hard court. And the numbers back it up: both have titles on multiple surfaces, with Sinner dominating the hard courts earlier this season and Alcaraz winning Roland Garros to Wimbledon in recent years. Their adaptability, fans argue, disproves Zverev’s claim that modern surfaces are too similar.

One particularly stinging comment reminded Alexander Zverev of the 2024 Australian Open, where Sinner dismantled him on one of the tour’s faster hard courts. “He’s just laughable… should I remind him how Jannik completely destroyed him on a fast hard court at the beginning of the year?” the user wrote, driving home the point that even on surfaces Zverev believes should favor him, the Italian has had his number.

Some fans also couldn’t help but notice the irony in Zverev’s stance aligning with Roger Federer’s earlier comments about homogenized surfaces. “He’s literally just parroting Federer,” one fan joked, recalling that Roger Federer himself was once accused of benefiting from court speeds adjusted to suit his game. In other words, Zverev might be borrowing from an old playbook, but one that doesn’t land as convincingly today.

Perhaps the harshest critique came from those who saw his frustration as a deflection from his own shortcomings. “What a loser. Carlos and Jannik beat him because he chokes, and he’ll never get to their level. But let’s blame it on the court,” read another comment that perfectly summed up the prevailing mood. After all, his two recent Slam finals—French Open 2024 and Australian Open 2025—ended in losses to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik sinner respectively.

For many tennis fans, Alexander Zverev’s comments sounded less like an analysis of the sport’s evolution and more like an attempt to explain away his inability to break into the same elite tier as Alcaraz and Sinner – two players who continue to raise the bar, no matter what kind of court they’re standing on. That said, what are your thoughts on Alexander Zverev’s comments?