Week of Controversy for Alexander Zverev at Italian Open: Cursing at Opponent & More

Alexander Zverev won the Italian Open last year, and while perhaps that run wasn’t as smooth, this year’s Italian Open has been rather more eventful for the German compared to last year’s.

The first of the so-called Zverev incidents at this year’s Italian Open happened quite early in the event. It was after his 2nd-round win over Camilo Ugo Carabelli, after which Zverev had not so chill on-court interview.

Zverev wasn’t in the best of form leading up to the Italian Open, and the interviewer asked him about that, noting that he’s had a few early exits from the events that he played, leading up to that one.

Zverev wasn’t impressed with the question and gave a rather interesting response, which also featured an insult toward the reporter.

"I mean, I didn't," Alexander Zverev said in his response to the interviewer suggesting that he had suffered a fair few early losses at this year's 1000-level events. "But you know, I won a tournament two weeks ago, so I don't really like to think about it. That's your job thinking about stupid questions when the match is an hour long, so I'll leave it up to you." [via X/@vronsky_anna]

The response was defended by some social media users, but the vast majority of tennis fans on 'X' have come out against Zverev following that response. Some of them pointed out that Zverev’s title run in Munich wasn’t that impressive considering that he only bested one player ranked in the Top 30.

It was an ATP 500 event, so not a minor title; however, it wasn’t a very impressive entry list per that fan. Another fan highlighted his problematic past, noting that being rude and offensive was the least of Zverev's concerns. Overall, it wasn’t a well-received comment by the tennis fan base.

Zverev's comments on Lorenzo Musetti

The second huge controversy that followed Zverev’s time in Rome came against Lorenzo Musetti. The Italian and especially the Rome crowd are rather known for being homers. They cheer for their players, and they don’t hide it or sugarcoat it.

Zverev knew that was going to happen, but his frustration boiled over at one point, and he unleashed it by bashing not only the tennis balls in use at the event but also the tactics used by Musetti in that match.

By the time the frustration boiled over, Musetti was leading and winning, and Zverev, who isn’t particularly known to have the best temper when it comes to losing, tended to complain about Musetti's game style. He said:

“I don't know. I think he plays similar when he plays on clay all the time. He depends a lot on defense. He depends a lot on the mistakes from other opponents. Today was difficult for me to hit winners. It was very slow, very, very heavy. " - Zverev on Musetti

He also took issue with the balls, calling them “kids' balls” while handing one to the tournament official in the stands during a changeover while going on an expletive rant about the balls.

"Look at it. It’s impossible to play tennis with this sh*t. If this is entertaining tennis, I don’t know what the f**k we’re doing. I’m tired of this. We're playing with f**king kids' balls nowadays. No wonder the guy is f**king six feet behind the baseline," Zverev during the match

Some tennis fans also pointed out that Zverev often uses the same tactic Musetti used, when he’s playing on clay, which is true. Zverev has used his body proportion many times to play wall tennis, where he essentially stands behind the baseline and just sends the ball back, hoping for an error.

Another fan pointed out that he would likely never say something like this about a player like Sinner or Alcaraz, even though they at times can use the same tactics.

"Such a graceless guy. Wouldn't dare say something like this about Carlos or Jannik... No wonder he doesn't have fans. Lose," - a fan on X

Overall, Zverev hasn’t shown a lot of grace this week in Rome. From the rudeness in the interview to the rather sour loss he sustained against Musetti, the German has heard a lot about it on social media.

His image has been tanked with the abuse case and instances like this don’t help him out either. In any case, this year’s Italian Open won’t see him lift the trophy like last year’s, but he certainly did grab the headlines once more—even though this time around, it was in a way less gracious way than last year.