Wimbledon - 'He needs to talk to clothing provider!' - Alexander Zverev teases opponent after shorts incident

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 01/07/2021 at 16:01 GMT

"It’s the first time that's happened. Yeah, I mean, look, it’s an unfortunate way to lose points," Alexander Zverev said of the strange incident. "The second time I stopped. The ball was right at his feet. I couldn’t have continued playing because it would have been dangerous for him. I think it’s not common to have days like that, matches like that. But Tennys has a very good sense of humour."

Alexander Zverev has teased his Wimbledon second-round opponent, Tennys Sandgren, after he was deducted a point for a strange situation with his shorts pocket.

The fourth seed won the encounter on Court Two in one hour and 45 minutes in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the third round but there were two occasions when a ball fell out of Sandgren's shorts.

The American received a warning from umpire Mohamed Lahyani after the first point affected had to be replayed, and he then proceeded to be deducted a point after it happened again in the first game of the third set.

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Despite the fact that the 29-year-old won the point with a volley at the net, the umpire was left with no choice but to penalise him after another ball dropped out of his pocket in his follow through.

What made the moment all the more spicy was Zverev calling the ball drop to the attention of the umpire, who did not initially spot the breach and had already awarded Sandgren the point.

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Asked about the incident after the match, Zverez said: "It’s the first time that's happened. Yeah, I mean, look, it’s an unfortunate way to lose points.

"The second time I stopped. The ball was right at his feet. I couldn’t have continued playing because it would have been dangerous for him.

It’s an odd way to win a point, but unfortunately it happens. Maybe he needs to talk to his clothing provider a little bit and ask for some deeper pockets!

Germany's Alexander Zverev celbrates winning against Tennys Sandgren during their men's singles second round match on the fourth day of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club

Image credit: Getty Images

"I think it’s not common to have days like that, matches like that. But Tennys has a very good sense of humour.

"I think the British crowd have a great sense of humour. You can’t really do that if the crowd doesn’t have great sense of humour.

"I do enjoy those kinds of moments. I do enjoy those kinds of interaction with fans, because I feel like, yes, as you said, Grand Slams are so serious, our sport is very, very serious because if you lose focus for a second, the match can turn around very quickly.

"I do believe that these kinds of things are also very good for our sport."

Zverev will next take on another American as 31st seed Taylor Fritz faces off against compatriot Steve Johnson in their second-round clash.

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