Italian Open: Alexander Zverev slams tennis ball quality, takes dig at Lorenzo Musetti after shocking exit

Tennis star Alexander Zverev's Italian Open title defense came to an end after suffering a quarterfinal defeat in the prestigious event. Italian sensation and local boy Lorenzo Musetti defeated the defending champion with a scoreline of 7-6 (1), 6-4 to storm into the semi-finals of the tournament while ending Zverev's stellar clay court run. Musetti will be facing Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final clash, with two ATP players aiming to seal the final berth.

However, Zverev was seen expressing his frustration over the playing conditions of the game after losing to the 23-year-old star player. The German-born star was seen taking a dig at the quality of the balls in Rome. The 28-year-old star player didn't hold back when discussing how big balls in Rome have not allowed him to hit winners, resulting in Italian Open 2025 loss.

Alexander Zverev's blunt take on playing equipment

Notably, the three-time Grand Slam finalist isn't known for sitting quietly after a horrendous show, and the same happened when he lost his quarter-final clash against Musetti and failed to defend his title here. Alexander Zverev was seen taking a dig at Musetti's game plan and style after losing against him.

However, he was seen expressing his anger when asked about the playing equipment. He was seen talking about the inconsistency across the tournaments as a big concern. The German-born star revealed that tennis balls here in Rome are big, and he can't play his aggressive game due to different playing conditions.

Zverev says Lorenzo Musetti depends a lot on mistakes from his opponents & the balls were ‘a joke’ during their Rome Quarterfinal match

“What were the feelings on the
court? You lost two times to him. But today it felt really different the way he managed to solve the problem at… pic.twitter.com/3rmYV5AAdk

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 15, 2025

“Balls were a joke today. Generally speaking this is a subject we've had over the last three, four years now. Players are talking about it all the time. They say we play with the same ball in Monaco, Madrid, Munich. Then we come here and the ball is totally different. The ball is very, very big. It's very difficult to hit winners here. For me, for my game style, today was not easy because at the end of the day I'm still somebody that tries to play aggressive," Zverev said.

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