“He was annoyed by my serve” – Fils on Zverev controversy

Third set, 5-5, 30-40. It was at this point that Arthur Fils succumbed to a little voice singing in his head to charm his inner customs officers who were supposed to guard the border of madness: he attempted an underarm serve. In the Hamburg ATP 500 final. Against Alexander Zverev, world No. 4 and defending champion.

Safe to say that such audacity did not please the German. At the change of end at 6-5, Fils, after words from the Roland-Garros finalist, approached Zverev’s bench in a heated exchange as the referee was forced to intervene.

I DIDN’T REALLY UNDERSTAND (WHY ZVEREV WAS ANNOYED BY THE underarm serve). bUT IT DOESN’T CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT OUR GOOD RELATIONSHIP

Arthur Fils

At the time, under the din caused by the downpours that fell on the court’s roof, no one could really hear what they said to each other. But, apparently, as relayed by Eurosport, Zverev said “you have zero respect” to the Frenchman, in reaction to the attempted underarm serve.

After the match, Fils’ statements clarified things somewhat.

“He was annoyed by my serve, yes,” he replied in a press conference, as reported by L’Equipe. 

“But after three hours, I had cramps and I couldn’t serve anymore. I didn’t really understand, but it doesn’t change anything about our good relationship and the fact that he’s a great champion.”

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IT WASN’T DISRESPECTFUL, HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS

Zverev on Fils’ underarm serve

Zverev, for his part, denied he was irked by the Frenchman’s actions.

“It wasn’t disrespectful, he can do what he wants,” he told reporters. “It wasn’t a bad tactical choice, I was ‘ten metres’ from my baseline, and I was tired.”

Nevertheless, shortly after the match, the German offered an icy handshake at the net, which Fils initially looked to have taken offence to.

CHAMPAGNE SHOWER TO FINISH

But the atmosphere then cooled at the prize-giving ceremony, when Germany’s Zverev popped the champagne cork to spray the Frenchman.

All’s well that ends well, it would seem.

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