Only ten minutes remained on the clock when Alexander Zverev came on to Court 5 for his practice session. There was no apparent urgency from the German as he prepared for his full practice session. His late arrival had consequences for the pair of Ben Shelton and Cruz Hewitt, who were supposed to train later, causing a bit of a stir among the fans. However, as per the World No. 2, the situation did not merit much attention.
“How do you even make this stuff up,” said Zverev in one of his Instagram comments when the incident had gone viral. The incident was reported by a fan on the Chinese social media app ‘Rednote’, who stated that Zverev had booked Court 5 for a practice session from 10:30 to 12:00 on Saturday. The German had his third round match against Quentin Halys the next day, and understandably wanted to sharpen his edges.
However, as the Rednote user stated, by the time German came onto the court, only 10 minutes remained on the clock of his allotted 90 minutes. It was already time for Ben Shelton and Cruz Hewitt to start their session, but in the video that has since been circulated on social media, Hewitt can be seen talking to the German, after which he and Shelton were reportedly moved to Court 10, which is an outer court.
Players have the option to use both online and offline methods for practice court allocations during tournaments. All accredited players and their teams have the ATP Playzone app, which helps them book practice slots on specific courts, or they can avail themselves of the Practice Desk on-site, which allocates courts for practice. While top players do get longer practice time, courts usually have marshals in place to notify players when their allotted time is over.
As for Zverev, this is not the first time that the German player has courted controversy at the Shanghai Masters this year. The World No. 2 did not make a good impression on his second-round opponent, Wu Yibing, who complained about Zverev’s on-court behavior during the match, which included the German player making complaints about lighting conditions and even taking some time out of the match after having a fall, just when Wu was starting to get in the match.
Despite all the drama, Zverev has reached the fourth round in Shanghai, where he is slated to face Alexander Bublik, with the German being very close to being World No. 1.
Alexander Zverev to Face Alexander Bublik in the Next Round in Shanghai
Having beaten the likes of Wu Yibing and Quentin Halys, Zverev will now take on Alexander Bublik in the fourth round at the Shanghai Masters. The match could be tricky for the top seed, as the Kazakh holds a 3-1 head-to-head lead. Given the temper tirade Bublik showed in his previous match against Brandon Nakashima, his match against Zverev could potentially have fireworks both off and on the court.
As for Zverev, the German has shown this year that he does not need to play at his best to win titles, and his French Open and US Open runs attest to that. Even against Halys in Shanghai, the two-time Major champion struggled to close the match as she could not convert match points in the second-set tiebreak. However, as he has done many times this year, Zverev was able to collect himself and win the final set comfortably.
With Jannik Sinner ending his season, Zverev has a great opportunity to clinch the No.1 ranking by this year’s end. A title in Shanghai will see the German be adrift by only 300 points from the Italian. With Sinner not being there to defend his points from the indoor season last year, Zverev’s ascent to World No.1 is already virtually sealed, given that he remains healthy for the rest of the season.
Back at the US Open, Zverev did not let the outside noise related to his ball bouncing affect him and won the title. Now it remains to be seen whether he can replicate his efforts to keep the outside noise separate in Shanghai.