Luck hasn’t seemed to be acting friendly enough with Alexander Zverev lately. Despite being consistent with his clay performance, the German failed to secure a title at ATP Hamburg. While the final loss against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros was already enough to disrupt his calm, the 27-year-old faced another setback, this time against Arthur Fils. Although he tried to accept the defeat pretentiously, his actions depicted a completely different story.

Arthur Fils recently won the ATP Hamburg final against Alexander Zverev with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1). The intense showdown lasted three and a half hours, with Fils saving 21 of 22 break points, including five in the final set itself. This win marked Fils’ second ATP Tour title and his first ATP 500 crown after his last victory in Lyon in 2023.

The match was not only intense but also saw tempers flare. During the final set, the Frenchman tried an underarm serve which was initially called in but later marked as out upon review. The crowd did not like this tactic and began to cheer whenever he missed serves. Besides the crowd, Zverev also seemed unhappy with the underarm serves. During a break in the match, Fils walked over to Zverev which finally led to a heated exchange. The umpire had to step in to calm things down, pushing Fils back to his side of the net.

However, despite the tension, Fils held his nerve in the third-set tiebreak to win his first Hamburg Open title. After the match, he said, “I’m really happy about how I played. I did everything for winning this match. I got cramps, when I was serving I was cramping. I was trying underarm serves because I cannot serve. The crowd took it badly but I don’t care, I’m winning and that’s it.”

During the celebration, Zverev sprinkled champagne on Fils, making it seem like he has made up with his rival. Although it seemed to be a lighthearted act at first, some fans thought Zverev was ‘bullying’ Fils. This made the spectators enter the conversation on social media.

“Always loves pretending” – fans try to decode the reality behind Alexander Zverev’s recent move

The incident didn’t catch enough attention during the broadcast. As soon as it came to an end, a social media handle named “TennisActu” shared footage of the celebration on X (formerly Twitter). “After their little quarrel on the court (and an icy handshake), Alexander Zverev generously showered Arthur Fils with champagne,” the caption said. Fans noted an unusual activity and therefore came forward to disregard Alexander Zverev.

A fan, spotting a sigh of anger on the German pro’s face, enquired, “Am I the only one watching this and thinking the underlying vibe is not that amicable? 🥴” While Zverev ran behind Fils to give him a champagne shower, it seemed like all of it was out of rage.

Another fan, adding his attendance to the last comment, wrote, “You are not.” This made it clear that it wasn’t just a singular fan who smelled the anger simmering in Zverev’s mind.

During the course of analyzing his mood behind the celebration, he wrote, “Zverev always loves pretending he’s besties with everyone, including friends of the women who made the allegations. There’s often something else there.” Besides the allegation of being pretentious, the comment pointed to a legal proceeding that he was recently involved in. His former girlfriend, Brenda Patea pushed allegations of domestic abuse on him, which were later waived off.

In the video, Fils can be seen running off from Zverev as he tries to escape the champagne shower. A fan commented, “Sort of shocked people don’t see the bullying energy actually,” quickly analyzing that the real intention behind this move was anything but a celebration.

A fan regarded Alexander Zverev as, “A tad aggressive and unfriendly.” Although what the fans are calculating might not be true but history makes the belief even stronger.

With these and several other comments on a similar note, the fans made it clear that the pretentious trick played by Zverev didn’t really work on them. Although the German has announced that he is working on his temper and trying to be more calm, it seems like the psychological practice isn’t really going well.