Alexander Zverev furiously confronted the umpire and shouted “are you kidding me?” after what he believed to be a missed call at the Laver Cup. The German star was defeated 6-1 6-4 by Alex de Minaur on a dream day for Team World as they swept all three singles matches and the doubles to take a commanding 9-3 lead.
Zverev struggled in the first set against De Minaur but the pair were neck-and-neck at 4-4 in the second, earning him the chance to force a tiebreak. However, while serving and down 30-15, De Minaur returned Zverev’s serve and the European made no attempt of hitting the ball back across the court.
Instead he immediately looked to the umpire and pointed to his racket as the San Francisco crowd let out a huge “ooooh” when De Minaur moved to 40-15 and had two break points.
Frustrated at what he thought was a clear let, having alleged that his serve hit the net cord and dribbled onto De Minaur’s side of the court, Zverev marched to the umpire and began remonstrating with the official.
“Every single person here saw that,” Zverev shouted. “Are you kidding me? That’s the biggest let ever.”
He stood perplexed on the court, with his racket dropped to the floor, as boos rang out at the Chase Center.
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Zverev continued to vent his frustrations after the umpire refused to reverse his decision, saying: “The ball hit the ground to the side, how do you not see that? Every person (could see it).”
The umpire apologised to Zverev that he did not agree with him and was happy with the call made, leading Zverev to reply: “Are you kidding me? Are you serious?”
He had to be given some consoling words by Team Europe captain Yannick Noah as he returned to the baseline, ready to serve again, but Zverev was then broken by De Minaur.
The Aussie then successfully served for the match to hand Zverev a disappointing defeat, before Team World ran riot and dominated the evening.
Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca had already defeated Flavio Cobolli, before Francisco Cerundolo beat Holger Rune and Carlos Alcaraz was stunned by Taylor Fritz in the biggest upset of the weekend.
De Minaur and Alex Michelsen then combined to secure a doubles win over Rune and Casper Ruud.
“It was a good day at the office, I’m glad we were able to get the win for Team World,” De Minaur said. “Alex was unbelievable again today on the court. It was a pleasure to be by his side and watch him just dominate that court.”