Players told court speed criticism is ‘not constructive’ after claims of Sinner/Alcaraz favouritism
Players complaining that courts are being prepared for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have been told those kind of comments are “not constructive” by the Paris Masters tournament director.
Alexander Zverev has been the most vocal about a perception that tournament organisers are engineering courts that would be more likely to produce a Sinner-Alcaraz final, but while the two players have maintained they have nothing to do with it, now a tournament director has also said it was not the case.
Former player turned Paris Masters director Cedric Pioline suggested comments along those lines were “not constructive.”
“We do not have the possibility to ask for something specific by saying as for the CPI (Court Pace Index), what was measured at 35, we can’t say we want 35.5, 36, or 37. We give a range. We want medium, fast, or something. We wanted to have a slower court as opposed to last year. This was crystal clear.
“But I also find it interesting to highlight something. As usual, as for every tournament, we had four semifinalists. Three of them expressed a comment either on the surface or on the balls. If they reached the semifinals in a Masters 1000, it’s already a performance per se.
“Felix [Auger-Aliassime], he said the balls are crap. This is what he said during his first round. What I said afterwards was what about the balls? Maybe they’re not that bad, are they?
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“But then these are small discussions we have between the tournament director — I’m an ex-player, as you know — and with the players. I know how the players feel when they arrive in the new facility and venue and they discover the new playing circumstances, but then making a comment about another comment is not constructive.
“But I know we have to sort out between the player discovering the conditions and making a comment without thinking about it and something that is actually a well-founded comment. I think what we managed to establish is a good compromise for all playing styles.”
Pioline was speaking shortly before Sinner faced Auger-Aliassime but said the project to improve the ATP 1000 had already proven to be a winning bet.
“What I can tell you right now is that we had talked about Paris Masters that enters a new era. We can say that the bet has been won. The challenge has been faced successfully throughout the whole week.
“We have an attendance of 220,000 spectators for this edition. We don’t have the precise figures yet. In 2024 the figures were 176,000 spectators, so that’s a great leap forward, and we are very proud of this.
“We can say that our best ambassadors were the players, because they were convinced by the project that we offered them with the dedicated facilities, the facilities dedicated to them. I’m not going to repeat everything that we’ve said, but the areas dedicated to them. The locker room, the players lounge, which is just next to the courts, and the setup, the game setup available to them, with dedicated areas with the central area.
“I know that now you’re acquainted with it. The practice court, this gym zone that was very much satisfactory to players, and there is a bit of the surface of the court that is on the floor, and that is very good for warm-up sessions.
“We know that these players are Formula 1 players, and we need them to practice in the best possible conditions for competition purposes, and they liked it very much.”
