French Open – ‘Carlos Alcaraz gets what he wants’ – Alexander Zverev questions ‘interesting’ scheduling

Alexander Zverev has said that quarter-final opponent Carlos Alcaraz ‘gets what he wants’ and is favoured by the scheduling at Roland Garros.

World number six Alcaraz has played three out of his four matches on Court Phillipe Chatrier at this year’s Roland Garros, with world number three Zverev playing just one of his four matches on the main stage.

13-time champion Rafael Nadal has also played on Phillipe Chatrier three times, with Novak Djokovic on twice.

And while Zverev understands giving centre stage to the two tennis legends, he questioned why Alcaraz was offered top billing.

“We [Carlos Alcaraz and myself] have Novak and Rafael on our side of the tournament. And it is normal, if they are on your side of the tournament they get what they want, and that’s okay,” Zverev told Eurosport Germany.

“One of them won 20 grand slams, the other 21. And that is proper. That is totally fine for me.

“But it is very interesting to see that Alcaraz gets what he wants. We all have played a couple of times on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Myself three times, Novak twice, even Rafa. But Alcaraz plays every match on Philippe Chatrier.

“I get that he is the exciting new mega talent in tennis. I am still the No. 3 in the world, but this is nothing about me.

“We have Rafa and Novak on our side of the tournament and they need to make room, so that somebody else can play on the main court that hasn’t already multiple times. This is extremely interesting for me.”

Zverev v Alcaraz is the third match on Chatrier on Tuesday, before the titanic showdown between Nadal and Djokovic.

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