Zverev Reaches US Open Final Despite Khachanov's Serving Complaints
Alexander Zverev reached the US Open final by beating Karen Khachanov, who criticized his excessive ball bouncing before serves. Zverev shrugged off the complaints, calling the stats funny.
Alexander Zverev advanced to the US Open final after defeating Karen Khachanov 3:6, 7:6 (7), 7:6 (6), but after the match, the Russian player chose to address an unusual habit of his opponent, which he claims bothers him and many other players on the tour.
Khachanov complained about the time Zverev takes before serving and the excessive number of times he bounces the ball. In some instances during the semifinal, the German bounced the ball nearly 20 times before serving and even received a time violation warning.
"It's not just annoying to me, but of course to many players, because it takes so much time," Khachanov said. "You don't even know how to prepare for the return." However, he clarified that as long as Zverev operates within the rules, he has no direct grievance against him, directing his criticism at the umpire: "It's the referee's job to be alert, react accordingly, and also intervene."
According to tennis rules, after the score is announced, the server has 25 seconds to put the ball into play, and during the semifinal Zverev did receive one time warning. The German, for his part, was unfazed by the claims.
"Before the match, I saw a statistic saying I had already bounced the ball 12,000 times in the tournament," Zverev said with a smile. "That's pretty funny."
