{"id":2174002,"date":"2026-10-01T17:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2174002"},"modified":"2026-10-01T17:00:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T14:00:27","slug":"alexander-zverev-calls-for-major-tennis-rule-change-at-the-china-open-thats-what-it-used-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2174002","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Zverev calls for major tennis rule change at the China Open &#8211; \u2018That\u2019s what it used to be\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Alexander Zverev calls for major tennis rule change at the China Open \u2013 \u2018That\u2019s what it used to be\u2019<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex gap-x-3 gap-y-1 md:gap-x-4 flex-wrap items-center\">\n                        <span class=\"ps-authors flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-1.5 max-w-full gap-y-0.5 text-sm font-normal text-author\"><span class=\"ps-author-item whitespace-nowrap\"><a class=\"ps-author text-sm font-normal !text-author\" rel=\"author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/liam-mcmillen\">Liam McMillen<\/a><\/span><\/span>                        <time class=\"flex-shrink-0 text-sm font-normal text-info\" datetime=\"01 Oct 2026 6:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"01 Oct 2026 6:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1790874027\"><br \/>\n                            01 Oct 2026 6:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto 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href=\"https:\/\/share.flipboard.com\/bookmarklet\/popout?v=2&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-news%2Falexander-zverev-tennis-rule-change-china-open\" aria-label=\"Share to flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Alexander Zverev calls for major tennis rule change at the China Open \u2013 \u2018That\u2019s what it used to be\u2019\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Alexander-Zverev-1-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Alexander Zverev speaking to the media at the 2026 China Open.\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Alexander Zverev speaking to the media at the 2026 China Open.                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alexander-zverev\">Alexander Zverev<\/a> lived up to his number one seeding at the China Open by defeating Cameron Norrie in straight sets.<\/p>\n<p>The German star is the top ranked player at this year\u2019s event following Jannik Sinner\u2019s withdrawal and he is most people\u2019s favourite to lift the title.<\/p>\n<p>His first match against Norrie was closely-fought, but he was able to get the job done by a scoreline of 7-6, 6-4 to set up a clash with Jerry Shang in round two.<\/p>\n<p>Playing a player as difficult as Norrie in the first round is the nature of an ATP 500 event, where there are no first round byes, and Zverev likes the format.<\/p>\n<h2>More Alexander Zverev news<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alexander-zverev-can-become-world-number-one-jannik-sinner-withdrawal\">The earliest Alexander Zverev can become world number one after Jannik Sinner\u2019s latest withdrawal<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alexander-zverev-comments-world-no-1-ranking-china-open-2026\">Alexander Zverev makes telling confession about world No 1 ranking chase ahead of China Open<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Speaking at his post-match press conference, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alexander-zverev\">Zverev<\/a> said:\u00a0\u201cI love it. I think Masters 1000s events should be like that. That\u2019s what it used to be. Masters 1000 events, eight players had a bye, the rest didn\u2019t. You saw first-round matches which were unbelievable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe No. 16 in the world could play the No. 17 in the world. The No. 9 in the world could play the No. 18 in the world. I think that was unbelievable to see.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow you got to wait for third round for like a week for matches like that to happen. I think the 500 format hasn\u2019t changed, which I really like. I think the format here is great. I have nothing bad to say about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The top 32 receive a bye at Masters event nowadays, which means the best players do not play each other until the third or fourth rounds at the earliest.<\/p>\n<p>With the extended two-week format of most Masters events now, it means the opening few days of the tournaments often feel inconsequential.<\/p>\n<p>For the biggest tournaments on the tennis calendar outside of Grand Slams, that is really not ideal, so maybe Zverev does have a point about the change.<\/p>\n<p>Both the China Open and the Japan Open have been proof that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/ATP-Tour\">ATP<\/a> 500 event can throw up great first round matches \u2013 and even bigger surprises.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Alcaraz was drawn against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Alex-Michelsen\">Alex Michelsen<\/a>, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/casper-ruud\">Casper Ruud<\/a> played <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/roland-garros\">Roland Garros<\/a> semifinalist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Luciano-Darderi\">Luciano Darderi<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the China Open, meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/us-open\">US Open<\/a> semifinalist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/karen-khachanov\">Karen Khachanov<\/a> was drawn against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Felix-Auger-Aliassime\">Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of the competitive nature of the draw, several high-profile players exited at the first round stage, including Auger-Aliassime, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Taylor-Fritz\">Taylor Fritz<\/a>, Ruud, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/tommy-paul\">Tommy Paul<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Does that not make the tournament all the more exciting for it? Perhaps Masters events should implement the change Zverev is suggesting.<\/p>\n<p>Both the China Open and the Japan Open continue until 6th October, when the final is played.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alexander Zverev calls for major tennis rule change at the China Open \u2013 \u2018That\u2019s what it used to be\u2019 Liam McMillen 01 Oct 2026 6:00 PM Alexander Zverev speaking to the media at the 2026 China Open. Alexander Zverev lived up to his number one seeding at the China Open by defeating Cameron Norrie in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2174002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2174002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2174002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2174002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2174002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}