US Open flop takes bizarre parting shot at NextGen hot heads

3 September 2019 at 12:20 am

Alexander Zverev is urging tennis's next-gen pretenders to ditch the theatrics and gamesmanship and let their racquets do the talking - a la Roger and Rafa - following his latest grand slam flop.

The German’s comments come despite the 22-year-old being docked a point penalty for an audible obscenity during his 3-6 6-2 6-4 6-3 fourth-round US Open loss to Diego Schwartzman.

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Zverev, the under-achieving world No.6, turned the blowtorch on his misbehaving young peers after failing to reach the quarter-finals for the 18th time in 20 career majors.

The 22-year-old German committed tennis suicide with 17 double-faults in the loss to Schwartzman on Monday, before diverting attention to others in the pack chasing veteran grand slam giants Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Zverev was particularly critical of 23-year-old world No.5 Daniil Medevev, who has enraged fans with his antics in New York - including giving spectators the bird during his run to the quarter-finals - and 21-year-old world No.8 Stefanos Tsitsipas for his serial go-slow tactics.

Zverev says tennis' next generation of stars should cut out the theatrics. — Zverev says tennis' next generation of stars should let their racquets do the talking. Pic: Getty

Zverev was also bewildered when Frances Tiafoe, 21, took a bathroom break that lasted more than 10 minutes during his second-round match, while Nick Kyrgios, 24, is under ATP investigation for two "major offences" in the past month.

"There's a lot of young guys that do things on the tennis court that maybe is not the best thing to do. I don't want the next generation to be known for that," Zverev said.

"I think a lot of the times Tsitsipas gets over the line with changing his shoes 15 times in a tournament, going to the bathroom in the middle of a set. Stuff like that.

"Let your tennis racquet talk for you kind of. You don't need to do things to distract the opponent, try to win that way."

But the German himself has not always been on his best behaviour as was evident during his loss to Schwartzman in New York.

Alexander Zverev argued a call with chair umpire James Keothavong. — Alexander Zverev argued a call with chair umpire James Keothavong during his fourth round loss. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

He contested the call, saying he never heard his warning earlier in the match, in which he was supported by Schwartzman.

"Code violation is fine. I didn't even argue that. But neither of us heard me getting a warning in the first place," he said. "I didn't hear it. Diego didn't hear it. Most of the crowd didn't hear it. I think the umpires next time should let me know about it.

"But, yeah, I hope some of the NextGen or the young guys will kind of learn from the older guys like Roger and Rafa, who have been unbelievable over their career, (who) really let their racquet talk for them, not try to distract opponents, something like that.

Zverev says more players should behave like Nadal and Federer. — Nadal and Federer are a shining example for their male rivals. Pic: Getty

"They're winning right now. I hope that kind of changes in the NextGen, as well."

But with 38-year-old Federer this week revealing plans to possibly play into his 40s and continuing to hold down a top-three spot with Nadal and Djokovic, it's unlikely Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipis and the like will receive any let-up any time soon.

Medvedev is the only remaining member of the young brigade in contention to snap the streak of 11 straight grand slams won by either of the sport's big three.

But in Wawrinka, the Russian faces a three-time major champion and one of only three other players, along with Andy Murray and Marin Cilic, to have won a slam in the past decade.