Zverev dreams of “cone of silence” for noisy Paris venue

Alexander Zverev yearns for some peace and quiet at the new venue for the Paris Masters, with the defending champion on Tuesday admitting he’s distracted by constant noise at the La Defense arena.

The German third seed who arrived here after playing the Vienna final against Jannik Sinner, complained that sounds from other courts bleed into practice arena – and presumably the main showcourt – making for massive distraction.

“The second match courts are nicer the way they look, but they’re a little bit of a mess,” he said.

“They’re very loud from the other courts… if you’re playing on one of the outside
courts, you have noise from Court 1, you have noise from the speakers of Stadium Court. 

“It’s a little bit of, like, there’s a lot going on.”

Zverev said he will  reserve judgement on the state of the Court Central until playing his first match.

The Australian Open runner-up lifted the 2024 Bercy title with a defeat of 

local Ugo Humbert at the former Bercy arena venue a year ago, and was not shy about spelling out some shortcomings with the new tournament site across the city from the previous site.

“I like Bercy. I really liked it, I really loved the stadium. I haven’t played on a stadium here yet. I have played on one of the other courts.

“There are some things that are definitely better here.. the size for the restaurant and for the locker rooms and everything like this is for sure
better here.

“I think there is stuff that was maybe a little bit better in Bercy. I would say practice courts probably.”