Alexander Zverev took the high road after his 2024 Hamburg Open win, defending the umpire’s mistake and calling upon the ATP to introduce available technology.
The German player has a history of outbursts, though he’s managed to keep it relatively cool recently. A few years ago, he made a huge mistake by smashing his racquet into an umpire’s chair in Mexico, which, to his credit, he acknowledged as unacceptable behavior.
Since then, he’s done much better in controlling his temper, even though the occasional controversial moment does arise. He’s a human being, as he would say, and human beings make mistakes.
That’s the exact word he used for the umpire after his win over Hugo Gaston. It was a very complicated match for Zverev, who needed three sets to beat the Frenchman. He needed three sets because he lost the first one due to an umpiring error.
Matches or sets are rarely decided by one point. As his most recent match proved, they can be, but they rarely are. You can always make an argument that putting yourself in that position contributed far more, and it wouldn’t be a bad argument.
Zverev certainly allowed far too many set points in that ill-fated service game at the end of the first set, but it’s also true that Gaston won the set on a point he should have lost.
The ball bounced twice, but the umpire, Alison Hughes, missed it, and subsequently, Gaston won the point, securing the opening set. Zverev was in major disbelief after arguing with the umpire, but after the match, he took the high road and defended the mistake.
“I mean, a mistake by the umpire, but I’ve said it in German; the umpire is also a human being and is allowed to make mistakes, but the bigger question for me is: we have the technology to review these kinds of things.”
“We tried it out at the United Cup. All the players loved it, the video review. Not sure why we don’t use it on the Tour.”
He also called out the ATP for not introducing a review option for players during a match, which has been trialed before. According to Zverev, it was very popular among the players, and there are very few negatives about it.
It’s just about ensuring that the matches go on as fairly as possible because even the great umpires make mistakes, and some of them can be quite costly. Casper Ruud, who likely watched the match, supported his words on social media, even before the German said them, as he shared a similar opinion.
One or two bounces? 🤔#HamburgOpen pic.twitter.com/emcYwDXNRH
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 18, 2024
Mistakes like that rarely happen, but if Zverev had lost the match on a point like this, he would have been furious. This time, he only needed to play an hour more of tennis.
“These kinds of situations can cost a player the match. It cost me the set, which is unfortunate. But as I said, it’s not about the umpire. She’s a very experienced and good umpire. Everybody has bad days, which is okay, but as a Tour, I think we should do more and use the technology that we have.”
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