Rennae Stubbs Puts Zverev in His Place: "Stop Making Excuses!"
Zverev criticized the homogenization of court surfaces, supposedly meant to favor Alcaraz and Sinner. Stubbs, in her podcast, responds with irony and statistics: the two young stars win on all surfaces, they don't need advantages.
Eliminated in the third round of the Shanghai Masters 1000 by Arthur Rinderknech, Alexander Zverev continues to have a 2025 season far below expectations for a world No. 3.
Furthermore, the German drew the ire of tennis observers and fans by claiming that tournament surfaces were being standardized to favor the success of Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner.
These outlandish statements prompted Rennae Stubbs to firmly put Zverev in his place in the latest episode of her podcast:
"Is he joking? If he thinks they are doing it to help Carlos and Jannik, we can give examples to contradict him... The Australian Open was played on a medium-paced surface. Jannik won it, Zverev got crushed.
Wimbledon comes along, it's on grass. Guess who wins? Jannik Sinner. Roland-Garros, no changes for a century. Carlos wins against Sinner in the final.
The US Open surface is between medium and fast. Who wins? Carlos. Zverev, where were you? These guys win on all surfaces.
If you put them in indoor conditions, on a super slow court or a damn ice rink, they will keep winning because they adapt. They can hit flat, serve incredibly well, come to the net, slice... They have a perfect forehand and backhand, with no weaknesses whatsoever. [...]
Zverev loses to Rinderknech, who is known for his serve, volleys, and net approaches. He had more variety than him. He used all the solutions to beat him. Zverev messed up, he had a poor approach and his forehand let him down in the important moments.
He needs to stop making excuses. It makes me laugh because he gets himself into trouble. If I were his coach, I would tell him to stop making such statements."
Shanghai 
This week, Federer also confirmed what sasha said.