The Rome Masters 1000 faces its decisive phase starting this Wednesday, but the echoes of the past Madrid Mutua Open are still echoing, especially the impact of Carlos Alcaraz’s great victory and Alexander Zverev’s harsh criticism of the organization for the schedules of their quarterfinal and semifinal matches.
The German complained about the night schedules that corresponded to him have “taken away opportunities” to win. “The work of the ATP this week has been an absolute disaster. Two days ago I went to bed at four or four thirty, yesterday at five twenty.
If any normal person goes to bed one night at four and then at five, it would be hard for them to just stay awake,” the world No. 3 said on Sunday after losing the final against Carlos Alcaraz. “I don’t want to take anything away from Carlos and today, even if he had been fresh, I probably wouldn’t have beaten him, but it definitely would have been a better match,” he added.
Well, in the last few hours Zverev has found an ally in his ‘war’ against night shifts. This is Novak Djokovic, who did not cut a hair when criticizing the situation experienced by the German in Madrid. “You can’t finish your semi-final match at one in the morning and play the final the next day.
I understand that they want to sell more tickets by scheduling a night session on Saturday, but that can cause problems”, opined the Serbian after beating Aslan Karatsev in his debut at the Masters 1000 in Rome.
Bodo comments on Nole Djokovic
Novak Djokovic failed to make it to the final of the Madrid Open after losing his semifinal encounter against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on Saturday.
“This was a big week for him. I think it’s a pity he didn’t get a chance to strut his stuff and get embroiled with Andy Murray which would have been a great occasion for us today,” Bodo said. “However, this turns out it’s already a win for him the fact that he is where he is even though this last match as a walkover isn’t the best of situations.
But coming in, I had a lot of questions about him and I kind of still do,” Bodo added. “So, these things tend to wear on someone and really get people thinking in a different direction. We dont know what his fitness level is really.
Any player you talk to they tell you they are working really hard, that they are working 110% and stuff, but they dont always. I am really curious to be able to see this week whether he is able to pull together and play some statement tennis which he appears to be doing,” the American added.
