Rival slams Zverev's lengthy pre-serve routine at US Open

Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov, following his US Open semi-final defeat, publicly criticised German player Alexander Zverev's habit of endlessly bouncing the ball before serving. According to Khachanov, the routine irritates not just him but many other players on tour.

"The way he bounces the ball... you know, it's not just annoying to me — it annoys a lot of other players too, because it takes an incredibly long time. You have no idea how to get ready to return serve. You're set, and then there are another twelve bounces. And it happens on every single point," Khachanov complained at a press conference.

At the same time, the Russian admitted that, technically, Zverev isn't breaking any rules: "On the other hand, it's all within the rules and the time limit. Honestly, I don't have anything to argue against that." Asked why he hadn't complained to the chair umpire, Khachanov said he doesn't want to get involved in that kind of thing.

The umpire issued just one warning

"It's the umpire's job to notice it, to be more attentive and actually step in. That's his job, not mine," the Russian explained. Chair umpire Damien Dumusois gave Zverev only one warning for exceeding the time limit, at the end of the first set — and left it at that.

Zverev himself, who went on to reach the US Open final, admitted he can't even explain why his pre-serve routine takes so long. "I don't know why I do it. It's not on purpose. I saw some stat where they counted twelve thousand ball bounces — that's pretty funny. I don't count it in my head, and I have no idea why it adds up to that much," Zverev told reporters with a laugh.

Source: sport.cz