Wimbledon: It was ridiculously dark before rain delay, says Alexander Zverev after being eliminated in round 3

World number 19 Alexander Zverev has hit out at the conditions during his Wimbledon round three match against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, saying it was ridiculously dark before the rain delay.

Berrettini defeated Zverev in straight sets to knock him out of Wimbledon 2023.

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Speaking after his defeat, the German said the conditions were ridiculously dark before the rain delay. Zverev and Berrettini were forced off court during the second set before returning to complete their match under the roof on Court. 1.

“Well, I think both of us played much better after the break, because it was ridiculously dark before the rain delay. We both were saying that to the umpire, but their plan wasn’t to play us till 8:30. I don’t know how they wanted to play us more than one hour still,” said Zverev.

He went on to say that the result could have gone either way, while admitting that Berrettini was the better player in key moments. Berrettini defeated Zverev 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 to advance to the round of 16 stage.

“I think it was a very, very decent match. I lost in three very tight sets. I just looked at the stats. I think I lost only three points, lost three more points than him in the whole match. That just shows that it could have gone both ways, but today in important moments he played better,” Zverev added.

Zverev heaped praise on Berrettini, saying that he could win the tournament if he plays like he did. The Italian will be eying his first Grand Slam title after falling at the final hurdle in 2021, losing the final against Novak Djokovic.

“I told him that he can win the tournament if he plays like this, in my opinion. I mean, of course there is other players that are great. He’s playing [Carlos] Alcaraz next. I think he’s a great player as well. But if he plays like this, to be honest, he has chances against anybody,” said Zverev.

Following his win over Zverev, Berrettini is all set to lock horns with top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.