Alexander Zverev says he's "not going to talk bad about anybody anymore", then insinuates Mannarino got injured because of Tsitsipas' toilet break

Alexander Zverev raced into the third round of the US Open 2021 with a commanding 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Thursday. And after the match, Zverev once again shared his thoughts on the raging debate over Stefanos Tsitsipas' extended toilet breaks.

It was Zverev himself who had ignited the controversy with his comments at the Western & Southern Open two weeks ago. During their semifinal match at the ATP Masters 1000 event, the German accused Tsitsipas of receiving coaching on the phone during his long toilet breaks.

More recently, three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray criticized Stefanos Tsitsipas for his extended breaks during their first-round match at the US Open. Zverev had then chimed in with some new comments of his own, joking in his first-round presser that Tsitsipas goes to a "magical place" during his breaks.

On Thursday, upon being asked to weigh in on the issue that has become a hot topic at the US Open, the German initially refused to attack his Greek rival anymore. Zverev, who has himself courted controversy in recent times over allegations of abuse from his ex-girlfriend, stated at first that he wanted to steer clear of the toilet break debate.

"I'm not going to talk bad about anybody anymore, because I have been talked bad about for a very long time and it's not a great feeling," Zverev said. "I don't want to do that."

However, Alexander Zverev then claimed the rules need an immediate change to prevent such occurrences in the future. According to the 24-year-old, it gets "frustrating" for a player to wait on the court if the opponent takes a break right after losing a set.

"I think there needs to be some adjustments in some rules by the ATP," Zverev said. "But it does get frustrating for you if you just won a set and then somebody walks off for 10-plus minutes or whatever."

Adrian Mannarino, who won the third set of his second-round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas right before the Greek went on a break, failed to win a single game upon the resumption of play. The match ultimately ended 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-0 in Tsitsipas' favor.

Alexander Zverev implied Adrian Mannarino (R) could have been directly impacted by Stefanos Tsitsipas' long breaks

Zverev insinuated that the Frenchman's poor performance in the fourth set could have been a result of the break that Tsitsipas took. The German surmised that the Mannarino's back might have got "stiff" in the intervening period.

Zverev further expressed agreement with Murray's point that the body cools down during a break of six minutes or longer, making it tough to hit the ground running upon resumption.

"I did see that he went off again yesterday, which I found -- yeah, I think you guys can't imagine how we as players we find that," Zverev said. "And then he wins the next set 6-0, because I think Mannarino's back got a little bit stiff or something."

"And that's happened, because as Andy also said, in six minutes, seven minutes in professional sports, in a high-intense match, your body does cool down," he added. "It's very difficult to come back and play on the same level as you did if you're just sitting down for six, seven, eight, nine minutes, or 10-plus minutes. So it's from a physical standpoint sometimes it's not that easy."

"The process started at the Olympics for me, and the match against Novak Djokovic" - Alexander Zverev on his winning mentality

Alexander Zverev attempts to hit a forehand during his second-round match at the 2021 US Open

By reaching the third round in New York, Alexander Zverev has now extended his winning streak to 13 matches. The Olympic and Cincinnati champion hasn't dropped a set in two matches so far, and looks determined to win the title he missed by a whisker last year.

On being asked if he was in the "zone" right now, Zverev attributed his newfound winning mentality to his three-set win over World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics.

"I think it comes naturally," said Zverev. "I think obviously the process started at the Olympics for me, and the match against Novak. That kind of started it off, because I was down badly, and I managed to win with great tennis."

The German also expressed happiness at having backed up his Olympic win with the title at Cincinnati, which he claimed further boosted his confidence level.

"I think it was very important for me to kind of back it up in Cincinnati, because a lot of the times players that for the first time in their career win something really big like a Grand Slam title or a gold medal, they do tend to go downhill a little bit," explained Zverev. "So it was important for me to go to Cincinnati, to a place where I have never won a match before this year, and have a great tournament."