Alexander Zverev received a time violation from umpire Mohamed Lahyani during the second set of his Shanghai Masters semi-final against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The future world number one was punished for taking too long to serve while leading 7-5, 2-1 against Davidovich Fokina. After holding serve, Zverev complained to the umpire.
Zverev and Lahyani exchanged words before Sky Sports commentators Robbie Koenig and Nick Lester delivered their verdict on the German’s latest incident.
Alexander Zverev argued that Alejandro Davidovich Fokina took too long as he received a time violation
“Mohamed [Lahyani], you’re giving me a time violation when he’s going for the towel. I’m starting my motion…” said Zverev after holding serve to move level at 2-2 in the second set.
“Yeah, but you were too quick at the line, then you came back,” Lahyani replied, explaining to Zverev that he took too long to serve after Davidovich Fokina dried himself with the towel.
“I was at the line, I came back because he was not ready,” argued Zverev.
How would you stop Alexander Zverev taking so much time before serving?
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“But you went back too long,” said Lahyani.
“It doesn’t matter! He’s at the towel, not me,” Zverev claimed as he grew frustrated with the experienced Swedish official.
“But 10 seconds is too quick, for the receiver, he at least has 15-18 seconds,” said Lahyani.
Zverev then returned to the baseline for Davidovich Fokina’s next service game. Koenig and Lester then discussed the controversial incident.
“It’s always a discussion; a lot of the time, the server is waiting for the returner to be ready, and I don’t think that matters. You’ve just got to get on with your routine, irrespective…” said Koenig.
“It was funny because Adel Nour said to Zverev two days ago, ‘It doesn’t matter if he’s not ready; you just serve’, so it’s a slightly different message coming from the two umpires. Adel Nour was very clear,” added Lester.
“But in that conversation, Sascha said I’m waiting for him to be ready, but you shouldn’t have to; you’ve got to do your own thing. If he’s not ready, the returner, then he’s the one who’s going to get the time violation,” said Koenig.
There is certainly confusion over the rules, but Zverev must take some of the blame, and, in his defence, he has. After winning his quarter-final match, Zverev admitted the umpire was right to warn him about the time he took between serves.
“He was telling me to look at the shot clock when I was serving. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know why, but I’m bouncing the ball a lot this year. It started at the US Open. I don’t know why it started. I’m very well aware of it, and I’m trying to work on it. I feel like, yeah, it is a bit unnecessary from my end,” he admitted.
Zverev is aware of the issue, but he’s clearly struggling to fix it. The German was unaffected in his quarter-final win over Alex de Minaur, although the same cannot be said about his semi-final match.
Alexander Zverev loses the second set of Shanghai semi-final after time violation controversy
Zverev and Davidovich Fokina remained on serve in the second set until 5-4. With Zverev serving to stay in the set, the Spaniard took his game to another level, playing several stunning points to apply pressure to the two-time Grand Slam champion.
A world-class winner from Davidovich Fokina sealed the set as he tied the match at 5-7, 6-4. He then won the opening game of the decider before breaking his opponent to lead 2-0, putting him in a strong position as the semi-final approaches its closing stages.
Davidovich Fokina is 1-6 against Zverev and lost both times he played the German in a third set. Whether he can break that streak in Shanghai remains to be seen. The winner of the match will return to play Daniil Medvedev or Rafael Jodar in Sunday’s final.
