Alexander Zverev’s court troubles have been relentless this season. At the Australian Open in January, a stray feather disrupted his match against Tommy Paul, leading to a heated exchange with the umpire: “Are you insane? What? A feather? There’s millions of them on the court.” In April at the Madrid Open, a contentious electronic line call against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina sparked his frustration and earned him a code violation for photographing a mark. Voicing frustration after losses is familiar for Zverev- Remember when Daniil Medvedev shot back at his accusations for unfair play during the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters, saying, “When he says someone is not fair play, you’re like, ‘Okay, great. Look at yourself in the mirror.’” Now, at the Italian Open, his latest outburst caught the attention of coach Rick Macci. What happened?

On Wednesday, Lorenzo Musetti showed remarkable resilience in the first set. He saved three consecutive set points on his return to force a tiebreak, which he dominated 7-6(1). The Italian stayed composed and exerted minimal effort in the second set, closing out the match 6-4 after two hours and 15 minutes. But it wasn’t just Musetti that bothered the German. Repeatedly, the tennis balls seemed to irk him.

During the second set, frustration boiled over as a ball was thrown at tournament officials while openly criticizing the tennis balls’ quality. “Look at it. It’s impossible to play tennis with this s***. If this is entertaining tennis, I don’t know what the f*** we’re doing. I’m tired of this. We’re playing with f** kids’ balls nowadays. No wonder the guy is f** six feet behind the baseline,” he vented.

Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci, with 50 years of coaching experience, was unimpressed by the outburst. On X, Macci wrote, “Zverev was complaining about the balls too fuzzy and too soft. Always remember one thing. It is what it is. Your opponent hits the same ball. Greatness does not make excuses, they excuse opponents.” The German was called out on his complaints.

The frustration didn’t end on court; it spilled into the post-match press conference. When asked if Musetti had changed his style at Foro Italico, the second seed was far from complimentary. “I think he plays similar when he plays on clay all the time. He depends a lot on defence. He depends a lot on the mistakes from other opponents,” he said.

Musetti, however, delivered one of his best performances in years. He showed great resilience by saving multiple set points at 5-4 in the first set. Then he dominated the tiebreak, winning 11 of 12 points. His varied game kept the German off balance. His forehand drop shots were especially effective, winning nine points in the opening set, including crucial back-to-back winners in the tiebreak.

However, Sascha’s complaints about the tennis balls continued. “They say we play with the same ball in Monaco, Madrid, Munich. Then we come here and the ball is totally different. The ball is very, very big. It’s very difficult to hit winners here. It’s just how it is these days,” he explained.

Adding to that, he said, “Of course, for me, for my game style, today was not easy because at the end of the day I’m still somebody that tries to play aggressive. I’m still somebody that tries to serve very fast. That’s how it is. It’s difficult to get free points today.”

Still, it’s a tough pill to swallow. After a disappointing loss at the Australian Open final, the German finally upped his game by winning the title in Munich. This came after repeated first-round exits in previous tournaments. Not to mention, he faced backlash for a supposedly rude response to a reporter after winning his opening match!

Zverev receives support from Rennae Stubbs after being called out for “rude” behavior

On May 10, Sascha breezed past Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-2, 6-1, but his post-match interview stole the show-for all the wrong reasons. When asked, “You’ve had a couple of early exits in the Masters this year, so how nice to get one under your belt here?” Zverev snapped, “I won a tournament two weeks ago, so I don’t really like to think about it, but that’s your job. Thinking about stupid questions when the match is an hour long, so I leave it up to you.” Yikes!

Fans called out his tone online, and even Serena Williams’ 2022 US Open coach Rennae Stubbs chimed in on X: “Did he have to be that rude to the interviewer?” She wrote back, “The answer was rude, but the question was ridiculous. Sorry. He could have said it’s been a tough few weeks after Munich so how much more comfortable are you here in Rome? Was the tennis we saw today how u felt in Munich? There are ways to highlight it without ripping a player.”

Zverev’s 2025 season has been a wild ride. After losing to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final-his third Grand Slam final-he admitted skipping a break was a mistake. Instead, he jumped straight into tournaments across Argentina, Rio, Mexico, Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte Carlo. He won the BMW Open but crashed out early in Madrid. Now, after losing to Musetti, he’s dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 behind Carlos Alcaraz.

With the French Open looming, Zverev will enter as the third seed. The big question: Will this shake-up stall his chase for a first Grand Slam? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!