Alexander Zverev has not taken kindly to his portrayal in a recent challenge at the 2026 Italian Open, which also featured Tommy Paul, Casper Ruud, Ben Shelton, Mirra Andreeva, and several other tennis stars. The German even raised accusations of favoritism toward certain players over his limited presence in the video.
Why Alexander Zverev Called Out the Tennis Channel Over Rome Challenge Video
While competing at the Italian Open, Zverev, Ruud, Shelton, and Andreeva joined Iva Jovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Learner Tien, Hailey Baptiste, and Eva Lys in testing their knowledge of Roman numerals for a Tennis Channel video. Although the world No. 3 featured only briefly after correctly answering how to write 10 in Roman numerals, players who struggled with their responses, like Paul, Ruud, Andreeva, and Mboko, featured far more prominently.
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Zverev was not happy about his correct answers being largely excluded from the final edit, accusing the Tennis Channel of targeting certain players while favoring others. He bluntly urged the network to stop wasting his time with promotional activities if his contributions were only going to be cut from the video.
“Just a random question @tennischannel why do I do all of these games and all these promotion activities with you guys but then every time I get something right I get cut out of every single one? Just asking if you’re just interested in wasting my time or just hope that I get something wrong so you can then put that in? I know you have players that you love to hate on and players that you love. so just please stop wasting my time then. Thank you,” he commented.
On the tennis front, Zverev’s bid for a third Italian Open title was thwarted by Luciano Darderi, who saved four match points to pull off a 1-6, 7-6(10), 6-0 upset in their fourth-round clash. The German did not hold back during his post-match press conference, voicing his frustrations with the court conditions at the BNP Paribas Arena.
“It was difficult to play. I mean, to be honest, the court, I think this is the worst court I’ve ever played on. Juniors, professional, futures, practice, I never played on a court where the court quality is that bad. I have match point and the ball jumps over my head. I have break point, the ball rolls. Like yeah… Yeah, the wind was tough. Overall, again, I just think I should have won the match in two sets. After that, yeah, he played fantastic,” he said.
Despite his annoyance, Alexander Zverev admitted that his early exit at the ATP Masters 1000 event may have turned out to be “a blessing in a bad moment,” giving him two weeks to prepare well for the upcoming French Open. The 29-year-old will enter the clay-court major as the No. 2 seed in the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, as he continues the pursuit of his maiden Grand Slam title.
