Alexander Zverev reveals what he was saying to Carlos Alcaraz during lunch together about the Paris Masters tournament

Posted by Admin November 1, 2024 Tennis

Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz have both been very vocal about one issue at the ongoing Paris Masters.

There have been plenty of shocks and exciting storylines to follow at the Masters 1,000 event, with Jannik Sinner withdrawing from the Paris Masters just before it got underway.

Alcaraz meanwhile is out of the Paris Masters, with the Spanish star losing to home favourite Ugo Humbert.

The former had a great chance to clinch another trophy this season due to Sinner’s absence, with Novak Djokovic also absent from the tournament.

But the second seed fell to 15th seed Humbert in the round of 16, with Alcaraz shocked by the speed of the courts in the French capital.

Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

What Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz said about the Paris Masters crowd

The Paris Masters courts have come under the spotlight this week, having gone down as the quickest courts across the Masters 1,000 this season.

Zverev says the quick courts suit him, with the German emerging victorious from his last 16 clash against another Frenchman in Arthur Fils.

The German once again discussed the courts and indeed the crowd after that win, telling Tennis TV: “Yeah to be honest we talked about it actually yesterday with Carlos, because we were both sitting in the players’ lounge and we were kind of having lunch together.

READ MORE: Paris Masters 2024: How to watch, prize money, dates and everything you need to know

“The atmosphere here is a lot louder than it is at Roland Garros, it’s crazy. I mean, but it feels like also the court is much smaller, the crowd is kind of on top of you, and it’s like an indoor atmosphere as well.

“So it’s definitely something that we don’t get a lot on tour, but I said it before, I love it, I love to play in Paris, It’s one of my favourite cities in the entire world to play tennis because of the crowd. They’re very energetic, they’re very loud.”

Alexander Zverev beats Arthur Fils to reach Paris Masters quarter-final

The Paris Masters crowd have had plenty of reasons to cheer this week, with several home players shining on the court.

Humbert soared into the quarter-finals after his win over Alcaraz, with his compatriots Fils, Adrian Mannarino, Arthur Rinderknech and Arthur Cazaux all reaching the last 16.

READ MORE: Alexander Zverev gives two reasons why he lost all his form this season after ‘incredible’ start to the year

Lucky loser Cazaux finally fell to Holger Rune, with wildcards Mannarino and Rinderknech losing to Jordan Thompson and Grigor Dimitrov respectively.

As per L’Equipe, it represented the second time since 2009 that five French players reached the last eight of the competition.

Unlike Alcaraz, Zverev was able to beat his French opponent to reach the quarter-finals, but the German is aware of just how difficult they are to get past on home soil.

“I think a lot of players struggle to play against French people here,” he added. “I like it because I understand that the stadium is not going to be full of German flags. I mean, that’s normal.

“When I play in Germany, the crowd wants me to win, when American players play in the United States, they want them to win. And it’s normal that the French people are like that towards the French players. But I feel like they’re very respectful still.

“I know we had some occasions in the past at Roland Garros where it was maybe a bit too much, but I definitely didn’t feel like that today and I thought it was a great atmosphere.”