Former US Open champion calls for drastic rule change after Alexander Zverev controversy

Alexander Zverev is set to square off with Ben Shelton in the 2026 US Open final, with the German aiming to lift his second-ever Grand Slam.

The 29-year-old lifted his first-ever Grand Slam earlier this year when he was crowned the French Open champion, and thanks to this success, along with the injuries to rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz became the top seed for the US Open.

Yet, while he manoeuvred his way through the Grand Slam with relative ease to this point, it has not been without controversy, which has led a former US Open champion to call for a drastic rule change.

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Andy Roddick calls for drastic rule change after Alexander Zverev’s antics at US Open

Andy Roddick is the last American to win the US Open, with Shelton aiming to change this on Sunday when he squares off with Zverev.

Roddick lifted the title in 2003, and now he is looking forward to seeing which one of these athletes will add their name to one of tennis’ most coveted Grand Slams.

Despite his excitement regarding this, he has raised one thing that frustrates him about Zverev, and that is the excessive amount of bouncing the ball he does before he serves.

Now Roddick wants a drastic rule change to tennis that will combat the antics of the German, one he called for while speaking on Served with Andy Roddick, his podcast.

The former world No. 1 said: “The rules should change.

““As long as he [Zverev] is doing it within the 24-second shot clock, what are you going to say?

“There needs to be a shot clock for the second serve. You cannot bounce the ball 20-something times between first and second serve. You cannot do it and then act shocked when we finish at 3 am in the morning. You cannot do it.

“Are you ready for a crazy one? You have four or five seconds to start your motion after your first serve, but you can buy back some time. So, if you start your first serve at 15 seconds, you get that added.

“There has to be some sort of reining in between serves. You can’t just start over each time.”

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Karen Khachanov openly criticises Alexander Zverev’s ball bouncing

Zverev defeated Karen Khachanov in straight sets to reach the final of the US Open, but the German’s opponent was not happy about the excessive ball bouncing.

Khachanov said: “His ball-bouncing before the serve bothers a lot of players.

“He takes a long time. You prepare yourself, then he bounces the ball another 12 times, so you have to prepare and split-step again almost every point. If he’s within the time limit, there's nothing I can say. If he’s going over the time limit, then he should get a warning. But it’s the chair umpire’s responsibility to monitor that, not mine.”

While Khachanov may be frustrated by the amount of bouncing of the ball that Zverev does, there is no rule against it yet, as he can bounce it for as long as he wants within the 25-second window he has to serve.

The German has addressed the controversy following his victory, as he said: “I have no idea why, I don’t do it on purpose. I saw the statistic that I’ve bounced the ball around 12,000 times or something like that. It’s pretty funny.

“I’m not counting them in my head or trying to reach a specific number.”