COCO GAUFF VOICES FRUSTRATION TO ITALIAN OPEN ORGANIZERS AFTER ALEXANDER ZVEREV HIGHLIGHTS DANGEROUS COURT CONDITIONS

Tennis star Coco Gauff faced severe difficulties while defeating Zheng Qinwen to storm into the Italian Open 2025 final. The American stalwart defeated the Chinese opponent with a scoreline of 7-6 (3), 4-6, and 7-6 (4) in 3 hours and 32 minutes of the game in a semi-final blockbuster clash. This game marks the longest match of Gauff's career.

Notably, Gauff showcased sportsmanship when she appeared for the post-match conference despite finishing her game at midnight. The young sensation was asked to give her opinion on her stellar win over her opponent. The 21-year-old star player talked about her win while also mentioning that the court was slow and the balls were too heavy after some games, which allowed them to work harder in their semi-final clash.

"Honestly, the whole match for me, the court was so slow. Especially when the ball, after like two games, they're so heavy. This was my second night match. My first one was the first round. I was playingeone with a completely different game style. Yeah, it was tough," Gauff said.

Alexander Zverev's blunt take on playing equipment

On the other hand, Zverev isn't known for sitting quietly after a horrendous show, and the same happened when he lost his quarter-final clash against Musetti and failed to defend his title here. Alexander Zverev was seen taking a dig at Musetti's game plan and style after losing against him.  However, he was seen expressing his anger when asked about the playing equipment. The German-born star revealed that tennis balls here in Rome are big, and he can't play his aggressive game due to different playing conditions.

“Balls were a joke today. Generally speaking, this is a subject we've had over the last three or four years now. Players are talking about it all the time. They say we play with the same ball in Monaco, Madrid, and Munich. Then we come here and the ball is totally different. The ball is very, very big," Zverev said.

Also Read: Alexander Zverev slams tennis ball quality, takes dig at Lorenzo Musetti after shocking exit

2025-05-16T07:41:32Z