Roddick defends Zverev from criticism: "Just because Sinner and Alcaraz are so good doesn’t mean the others are trash"

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We thought that Alexander Zverev would receive worldwide recognition the day he won a Grand Slam, but in these last few hours it has been confirmed that he continues to receive criticism. Andy Roddick has stepped up to defend the German.

And not because they are close friends, not at all. The defense speech that Andy Roddick used in his famous podcast Served aims to provide a bit of context to a circuit where everything seems to revolve around Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Of course, they are the best, but what about the rest? They can't all be that bad, right? And regarding Alexander Zverev, why is there a feeling that the public doesn't quite warm up to him? Obviously, the Hamburger hasn't always done things right off the court, or even on it, but this is where the Nebraska legend stands up for him to convince us of how we should look at Sascha. His speech is worth listening to, and that's why we wanted to highlight it.

Andy Roddick criticizes all those who don't appreciate Zverev's tennis

"Listen, you may not be a fan of Sascha for certain reasons or for things that have happened off the court. But there have been people in different podcasts talking about him as if he's not a great player. And that bothers me. We're talking about 24 individual titles. He's played the ATP Finals every year he hasn't been injured for the past nine years. There aren't many people who have played the ATP Finals eight times and won it twice.

Just because Carlos and Jannik are so good, I don't want us to get to the point of treating anyone other than them like trash. That's ridiculous. Much of the animosity we hear towards Zverev's tennis comes from what people think or feel about him off the court. Honestly, I don't know Sascha, I've seen him a couple of times in passing, and that doesn't influence my opinion of his tennis. It shouldn't influence us, we need to be able to separate both things, compartmentalize them, and be objective.

He's two meters tall, usually hits between 75% and 80% of first serves averaging 217 km/h. He has one of the best backhands we've ever seen. And yes, we can say there were great players before him, but he was one of the first tall players who moved exceptionally well. Before him, when we talked about tall players, we'd say, 'He moves well for being so tall.' His mobility is incredible, you can certainly criticize his tendency to play somewhat passively and not take the initiative, fair enough, but at least then we are talking about tennis.

His record speaks for itself; most people would sell their firstborn to have a season like the one he had. And on the other hand, I think he has been admirably honest about his year, describing it as an incredibly unsatisfactory one. This guy served to win a Grand Slam and couldn't close it out. He made it to other important finals. He didn't have a Grand Slam, but he was still incredibly good. Also, I think we don't give him enough credit for how he recovered from that ankle injury.

To sit and say 'he's not that good' is offensive to all tennis players on the planet, in my opinion. Because then, what are the rest of us? If this guy isn't good, are the rest of us terrible? If we're going to criticize the sport, the athlete, and their on-court performance, let's do it with honesty. Alcaraz and Sinner will probably be all-time legends, fine. But if you sit there and say that Zverev isn't that good, honestly, I'll stop taking anything you say seriously thereafter”.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Roddick defiende a Zverev de las críticas: “Que Sinner y Alcaraz sean tan buenos no significa que los demás sean basura”