Alexander Zverev has claimed that the hard courts at some tournaments were made “very, very fast” to help Roger Federer when the tennis legend was on tour.

The world number four recalled his time playing tennis at the same time as Federer and explained that the tournaments emphasized fast play because people liked it when the Swiss landed “deep shots”.

Federer had great success on all surfaces, but was particularly known for his ability on fast courts, which suited his attacking style of tennis.

The former world number 1 won 19 titles on grass, the fastest court surface in the world, with a record eight of these victories coming at Wimbledon.

Federer also reached great heights in hard court tournaments that were among the fastest of his career, such as the Cincinnati Open and the ATP Finals, securing a record seven Cincinnati titles and six ATP Finals titles.

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In an interview with Tennis Channel During the 2024 Cincinnati Masters, Zverev made an interesting revelation when asked if he felt more comfortable on a faster court.

“Yeah, I mean, I still play with an old-school racket, I still play with a pretty heavy tennis racket,” the German explained.

“I mean, some of the younger players don’t do that anymore and so they swing a lot faster than me. But when the ball comes with speed, I think a heavier bat helps you, so that might be part of the reason. There’s obviously some batting stuff involved.

“I mean, I’m from the generation of ten or five, six years ago when we had some very fast hard courts, especially when Roger was still there. And of course the tournaments liked it when he hit deep, so they built some very, very fast courts.

“I’m maybe a little more used to it than some of the younger generation, but I think there are still some adjustments that need to be made.”

Zverev is the number 4 seed at the 2024 US Open, putting him in the same half of the draw as defending champion Novak Djokovic.

The 27-year-old could face 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic, who is seeded second, in the semifinals. If Zverev reaches the final, he could face either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz.

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