Rotterdam Tournament Director Richard Krajicek has said that they will think about changing the court speed after copping criticism from some of the top players in the world.
Out of the eight seeded players, five were knocked out in the opening round of the ATP 500 event.
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Alexander Zverev, who lost to Alexander Bublik on Wednesday, was not too happy about the slow surface and said that he didn’t ‘feel well here.’
“I haven’t won a single practice set in the five days I’ve been here, and I’ve been practising twice a day,” Zverev said.
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“In the past I haven’t done well here, in the past I haven’t done well and to be honest if the conditions don’t change a little bit, I don’t think in the future I’ll do too well here either.
“I’m not as upset about the match as I usually would be in another tournament because I just don’t feel well here.”
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While top seed Daniil Medvedev was also knocked out, second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a tough battle against Egor Gerasimov.
“It takes a lot of effort to hit a winner because of the slow court,” the Greek said after battling to a 7-6, 7-5 win over Gerasimov.
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Former Wimbledon champion Krajicek said that the tournament would pay heed to the feedback.
“It’s not nice to hear, but maybe we should see if we can make the court faster. Anyway, it’s something to think about if his criticism is valid,” Krajicek told nos.nl.
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“We have to do something with this as a tournament. Of course you don’t want Zverev or other players to think at some point: just leave Rotterdam alone.”
The 49-year-old, though, denied claims that the surface had been deliberately slowed down this year for Rafael Nadal, who was scheduled to play at the event but pulled out at the last minute as he is still recovering from a back injury.
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“On a scale of five, our speed has been on the third level for a long time, so on average,” Krajicek said.
