The discussion about the court surfaces at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai continues. After Alexander Zverev, who is ranked third in the world, expressed dissatisfaction with the speed of play on the local courts, the topic has taken on new significance. According to the German athlete, the tournament organizers are deliberately making the courts slower to improve the chances of success for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who currently lead the world tennis rankings.
Zverev believes that such changes in playing conditions may help promote certain players to the finals. He also noted that this blurs the differences between playing styles on various surfaces, forcing athletes to adapt to similar conditions regardless of the court type.
Roger Federer also joined the discussion, recently stating on Andy Roddick’s podcast that tournament organizers are indeed interested in slowing down the courts. According to him, this makes matches more intense and demands a greater number of winning shots from players, especially against opponents like Alcaraz and Sinner. Federer suggested that organizers would rather see these players in decisive matches, which, in his view, positively affects the popularity of tennis.
Jannik Sinner, who is also competing in the tournament in Shanghai, commented on the situation after winning his opening match against Daniel Altmaier. The Italian athlete emphasized that neither he nor Alcaraz have any influence over the choice of surface and do not make such decisions. Sinner noted that professional players have to adapt to any conditions, and that he himself has repeatedly demonstrated a high level of play even on fast courts.
At the moment, Zverev and Sinner are in different halves of the tournament draw, and they can only meet in the final. The question of how the surface affects match outcomes remains open, and discussions among players and experts continue.
