Alexander Zverev remains one of the more polarising figures on the tennis tour, which could make the reaction to his potential victory on Sunday even more intriguing.
After all, the German is widely regarded as the best player to have never won a Grand Slam title, so on one hand many feel he deserves this.
Others do not.
Alize Cornet did not explicitly pick a side, but she certainly outlined her frustrations after his semi-final win over Jakub Mensik, furious at what the 29-year-old uttered whilst still on-court.
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Speaking straight after he had reached a fourth major final of his career and another at Roland Garros, the interviewer was keen to learn how Alexander Zverev was feeling.
However, he honed in on the walk onto court in particular, as the announcer bellows out the players’ names to the cheer of the crowd.
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Asked what it was like to feel such support, and if it forged greater nerves, he admitted that the lack of thoughts is beneficial in this situation.
Zverev stated: “Pure emptiness. There is absolutely nothing in my head. To be honest though, we’re athletes, very few of us have anything in our head, anyways! So sometimes it’s easier to be stupid and not to think too much.”
He chuckled as he made this claim, but not everyone enjoyed the joke. Cornet certainly did not.
Alize Cornet slams Alexander Zverev after his on-court interview
Whilst Agassi admitted he was disappointed in both Zverev and Mensik for their match, he made no mention of his speech.
The aforementioned Frenchwoman instead honed in solely on that.
She passionately stated: “The uselessness of this statement. Saying that athletes have nothing in their skulls. Let him speak for himself, but don’t lump us all into the same bag. It’s a huge lack of respect for the players and for the athletes.
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“Seriously, it’s crazy when you think about it, to say that on centre court. It’s such a lack of respect for the players, for the athletes.
“If he meant to be funny, it wasn’t funny.”
