Alexander Zverev began ranting to the chair umpire during his match against Yoshihito Nishioka at the Cincinnati Open after loud music from other courts became distracting.

Sixteenth seed Zverev progressed to the third round of the Western & Southern Open after defeating his Japanese opponent 7-6, 6-4. This came after his victory against Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 64.

However, the German tennis player became frustrated during his recent match due to the music from the speakers in the surrounding courts distracting him while he was trying to serve in the second set.

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Zverev calls loud music 'ridiculous' 

The 26-year-old approached the chair umpire Aurelie Tourte to rant about the noise. Although he admitted it wasn't the umpire's fault, he called the situation 'ridiculous', and reminded her that he had won the tournament.

"It’s not your fault. This is ridiculous because we’re playing a Masters, we’re not playing a 250. I won this tournament, you know, it’s not like just a random tournament that we’re just playing.

"There’s literally music coming on break point when I was serving and on break point when he was serving. And the thing is, the distance of the music is exactly the same from that corner as from that corner," he said.

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'there’s not a lot anyone can do'

Tourte proceeded to contact the tournament supervisor Gerry Armstrong on her walkie-talkie during the changeover. Meanwhile, the commentators debated over what, if anything, could be done to resolve the situation.

"I mean, he said to Aurelie Tourte, ‘I know it’s not your fault.’ But there’s not a lot anyone can do, right?" said Prime Video commentator Peter Odgers. However, co-commentator Robbie Koenig suggested that organisers should turn the music down.

"Well they’ve got to have a word with the DJ, does the music have to be that loud on Centre Court? I mean, I understand they’re trying to create a vibe but just take it down from a 9.5 to a 7.3 on the dial - maybe even a 6.5," he said.

Armstrong took the court to speak to Zverev, but did not provide any answers, to which the former world No. 2 responded with more frustration:

"Gerry, we’re playing in a Masters series. This court today is me, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Monfils," he said, before adding that the loud music distracting players could damage the tournament's reputation.

"You’re lacking courts because the matches weren’t played on Tuesday or whatever but then adjust, turn it off [...] We’re playing in one of the biggest events of the year. This could literally damage your tournament," he added.

Cincinnati Open

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Seeds moving on ⬇️ Zverev def. Nishioka 7-5, 6-4 Kasatkina def. Gracheva 6-3, 6-1 Paul def. Humbert 6-1, 7-6(4) #CincyTennis

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