Tennis star pulls out cell phone Zverev gets into an argument with the umpire and is punished for taking a photo as evidence
After a false start, tennis pro Alexander Zverev advances to the round of 16 in Madrid. A rally leads to Zverev reaching for his cell phone and receiving a warning.
28.04.2025, 08:23
28.04.2025, 08:27
dpa
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- On his way to the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, Zverev is annoyed about a bad call.
- The German pulls out his cell phone and takes a photo as proof. He receives a warning for this.
- After Djokovic's early exit and in the absence of Alcaraz (adductor problems), Zverev has a good chance of winning the tournament.
Just under a month before the start of the French Open, Alexander Zverev has just about averted another setback at the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. After a completely botched start, the tennis world number two fought his way to a 2:6, 7:6 (7:3), 7:6 (7:0) win over Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.
The German top player thus advanced to the round of 16. There he will meet the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo or his compatriot Francisco Comesana.
He played terribly in the first set, said Zverev. "I came out and had no idea what was going to happen. He played unbelievably and I made mistakes."
Zverev pulls out his cell phone in anger for photo evidence
A scene at the end of the second set caused a stir when Zverev was annoyed that a ball from the Spaniard was given as good and not as an error. First he argued with the umpire, then he took a photo of the ball with his cell phone. The 28-year-old received a warning for this.
There are no longer any line judges on the ATP Tour; an electronic system takes over the decisions. The Spaniard had previously considered another decision to be wrong.
In the third round, everything pointed to Zverev's success even before the tie-break when he served for the match at 5:4. However, the last remaining German participant suffered another weak phase before he finally celebrated after his false start.
Toni Kroos sees 0:4 deficit out of the box
There was no sign of the momentum from the tournament win in Munich on Easter Sunday at the start of the match. Zverev got off to a weak start, not scoring a point in the first ten rallies and quickly trailed 0:4 after losing his serve twice. Only then did the player from Hamburg find his way into the match a little better.
Former football world champion Toni Kroos, a former Real Madrid player, also watched from the Zverev box as the world number 29 from Spain was clearly the better player in the first set.
No Djokovic, no Alcaraz
After winning the tournament in Munich, Zverev has a good chance of winning the next title in Madrid. The long-standing Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic experienced another disappointment on Saturday with another early exit. Spanish top star Carlos Alcaraz canceled his participation due to adductor problems.
