Karen Khachanov has given his verdict on Alexander Zverev’s controversial comments about the Italian Open courts.
Khachanov returned to form in Rome last week, where he achieved his best ever result at the Italian Open by reaching the quarterfinals.
This was a better result than world number three Alexander Zverev, who lost to Luciano Darderi in the fourth round.
After the match, Zverev complained about the courts at the Italian Open, calling them the worst he has ever played on, and now Khachanov has responded to the German.
Karen Khachanov says some Italian Open courts are ‘not of very good quality’
“It was difficult to play,” Zverev said after his defeat to Darderi. “I mean, to be honest, the court, I think, this is the worst court I’ve ever played on.
“Juniors, professional, futures, practice, I never played on a court where the court quality is that bad. I have match point and the ball jumps over my head.
“I have a break point, the ball rolls. Like yeah…I mean, you saw it, no? The ball rolls a couple of times. It’s difficult.”
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Zverev lost to Darderi on the BNP Paribas Arena, which was new for the 2026 tournament, and Khachanov appeared to agree with the three-time Grand Slam finalist’s comments about that particular court.
“Honestly, every year we talk to the tournament director,” Khachanov told First & Red. “I think it was the last two years Pavel Lorenzi, a former player too, and every year he said that the winter was quite long in Rome and because of this they didn’t have time to redo the drainage, relay the soil and dig it up and and lay a new one.
“They did it very late and because of this the courts are very loose, very soft and some have bad bounces. There are holes, not holes, but these kind of pits and this year he told me everything seemed to be under control and they started this process much earlier.
“But this particular court they moved, the BNP [Paribas] Arena it is called I think and they put it I think on a board because there’s no court there the entire season, and because of this it bounces different, higher and badly.
“That is true some courts are not of very good quality, I don’t know why but in Rome this happens every year, probably depending on what court you’re playing on.”
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Where will Karen Khachanov be seeded at Roland Garros?
Prior to the Italian Open, Khachanov had only one of his four matches on clay and was at risk of dropping down the rankings.
However, after reaching the quarterfinals in Rome, Khachanov has maintained his spot as the world number 15 in the ATP rankings.
With both Lorenzo Musetti and Carlos Alcaraz not playing Roland Garros this year, Khachanov will be the 13th seed in Paris.
This means that Khachanov is guaranteed to be drawn against a top four seeded player at Roland Garros in the fourth round.
Before he heads to Paris, Khachanov will look to get some final clay court practice at the Hamburg Open, where he is playing Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
