Back in the day, fast hard courts were the talk of the town. Of course, this era housed Roger Federer, who was extremely comfortable swinging on these surfaces. Today, tennis players, do not favor these surfaces. Well almost. Alexander Zverev is one exception from the list. The German sensation seemingly embraces his fondness for the fast-paced courts. However, there’s a bitter-sweet twist. Zverev believes that the ‘Swiss Maestro’s’ formidability wasn’t the only thing that promoted his dominant performances on these surfaces, but rather, the tournament organizer’s favoritism for him.

Players are seemingly struggling to keep up with the high-paced hardcourts of the ongoing Cincinnati Open, including the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, who crashed out in the event’s opener and later complained about the “insane” surface pace that thwarted his dream run. However, the German, on the flip side, is winning against all odds. Luckily for the tennis community, the 27-year-old has revealed the secret ingredient that promotes his dominance on fast courts and further exposed why Federer repeatedly excelled on such surfaces.

In a post-match presser with the Tennis Channel, the World No. 4 was inquired on why he prefers to use a heavy racket during a time when upgraded techs offer lightweight rackets to players. Zverev stated that he belongs to former World No. 1 Federer’s generation, wherein the Swiss also resorted to playing with a heavy racket owing to the growing abundance of speedy hard surfaces that favored him.

Furthermore, Fed being a crowd favorite, prompted tournaments to add more of such surfaces to their arenas, backing him to ‘dig deep’ and emerge victorious. “I’m playing quite a heavy racket still. I’m still from the generation 10 years ago especially when Roger was still around. Tournaments liked him to go deep so they were making some very fast courts so I’m used to it.”

For those unaware, the 20-time Major champion’s illustrious career saw him pocket several titles on fast courts. This, notably, included his six titles at the Australian Open, seven in Cincinnati, and three at the Shanghai Masters, all known for their notoriously fast-paced hard courts. His affinity for fast courts especially shines through in his eight Wimbledon titles and the 2012 Madrid Open. Blue clay was used for the surface, which quickly became notorious for being much faster, and rather slippery, than red clay.

While Alexander ‘Sascha’ Zverev is seemingly getting the hang of the Cincy courts, impressive results did not come the German’s way this seamlessly. This, in turn, was also addressed by the former World No. 2.

Alexander Zverev endured seven consecutive opening rounds losses in Cincinnati

Sascha has come a long way from enduring disappointing losses. Notably, his back-to-back upsets at the Cincinnati Masters. The German was not always acquainted with how to exploit the upside of the event’s fast hardcourts. Moreover, before lifting the tournament’s title in 2021, Zverev lost his first qualifier in 2014 and six consecutive opening rounds contests in Cincy. However, things changed quickly as he won the 2021 Cincinnati Open, and reached the SF in 2023.

The German has been producing effective results on the fast-paced surface and in the same interview, reserved a few words to voice his newfound confidence on the surface.

He said, “You know you can play well here and that was not always the case with me. I struggled a lot in the first seven years that I came here. I lost seven first rounds in a row but after that, I won the tournament, made semis here last year. I am feeling quite okay on these courts and hopefully, I continue showing that.”

In hopes of clinching the ATP 1000 Masters title this season, the German will look to conclude Ben Shelton‘s challenge in the quarterfinal on Saturday, August 17. Will he be able to continue his great form?