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via Reuters

via Reuters

The Belgian duo Joran Vilegen and Sander Gillie have bested the best of the best! The duo recently gained the upper hand over Alexander Zverev and Marcelo Melo in the finals of the doubles match in Monte Carlo. Taking home their maiden ATP 1000 title in a doubles event, Vilegen and Gillie defeated the German-Brazilian duo by 5-7,6-3,10-5. While it was a happy occasion for the winners, Zverev’s speech after the match has brought in a new controversy among tennis fans.

They recently took to several social media platforms to take a jibe at Alexander Zverev for his strange reactions after the defeat. Already somewhat of a controversial entity, the German player has directed more fan fire toward himself.

“This man really has no charisma whatsoever” – Fans lash out at Alexander Zverev for his bizarre speech

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After the match, all the players were handed their trophies along with a mic to give a speech on their performances in this tournament overall. Alexander Zverev started his speech by saying, “Me? What do you want me to say?” He looked a bit surprised, and then the German went on to add, “Melo you’re welcome. No, I mean well done to you guys (Vilegen & Gillie), and to the team as well. I don’t know you guys too well but I’m happy for you.

via Imago

He further added, “Obviously would have liked to be in the singles and doubles both. But doubles is okay for this week as well.” Zverev ended his speech by saying, “And yeah, I appreciate everybody and see you next year hopefully.” After hearing this, social media got flooded with negative comments towards Zverev for his cringe-worthy comments.

One of them recalled an incident from the Lavers Cup 2022 when Zverev tried to make multiple jokes about his doubles partner Andrey Rublev. He tried to crack a joke about having a better H2H record against him. “Yeah I saw him play doubles at LC 2022 in London w/ Rublev and he tried to make multiple jokes about him having the better h2h but they came off really cringey. He thinks he’s way more charming than he is.”

Others felt that Zverev was being ‘narcissistic’. The fans said the German tennis star was behaving in such a way that it seemed like he just took part in the doubles event to help Melo. “Amazing, he is acting like double’s cup is so beneath him like he was just walking by and decided to help Melo since he is obviously wearing a cape. He has absolutely no idea how he sounds like. Narcissism is very strong with this one.”

Another fan found Zverev saying “You’re welcome” to Melo was probably not the correct sentiment. He felt Zverev should have instead thanked Melo for not dumping him in between the tournament. “You’re welcome” …….. that landed with a thud. Honestly Zverev should probably thank Melo daily for not dumping him after the deranged chair attack”

via Reuters

While others said it’s Zverev only, who makes it easier for the tennis fans to root against him. “He makes it very easy to root against him”

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Some of them went on to add, “This man really has no charisma whatsoever.” The fans looked absolutely disgusted with his speech after the finals.

However, the partnership of Alexander Zverev with Marcelo Melo isn’t only restricted to the courts. In 2018, they were spotted spending their vacation together in Maldives. In 2023, the two ATP stars were also spotted on the streets of Tokyo. What does Marcelo Melo think about his friendship with Zverev?

“Everyone knows the friendship we have…” – Melo on his bonding with Zverev

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In 2019 during an interview, Marcelo Melo said, “Everyone knows the friendship we have on the Tour, we also try to have fun in tournaments. It’s also important to have that part, we enjoy in training sessions and matches.” He further went on to add how they share experiences with each other and how they often talk about a lot of things about their own games.

Melo added, “Each of us has his own coaches and their team to improve. But sometimes we joke with each other.” Share your thoughts on this new controversy surrounding Alexander Zverev’s recent speech.