What happened to Alexander Zverev at Madrid Open? All you need to know about German's line call controversy

Alexander Zverev reached the quarterfinals of the 2025 Madrid Open in hard-fought fashion on Sunday (April 28), defeating Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in three sets. The German invited controversy midway through his Round-of-16 match by expressing his displeasure with the electronic line-calling system, following which he copped a warning from the chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani.

Zverev started his sixth career meeting against Davidovich Fokina in less-than-ideal fashion, dropping the opening set 2-6. The top seed was visibly perturbed by a line call that had been made at 4-4 in the second set by the electronic system, which is still slowly being phased into pro tennis. At 5-4 up, the 26-year-old let his frustrations get the better of him when his opponent tracked down a drop shot and ultimately sent it wide but the ball was called in.

Alexander Zverev subsequently claimed that the electronic line-calling system was "malfunctioning" while imploring the umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, to come down from his chair and check the ball mark himself. When Lahyani refused to do so, the World No. 2 started bargaining with him before ultimately bringing out his own phone to click the photo of the mark on clay as proof.

"Just come down and look at it. No, no, no no. Don’t overrule it, please come just come down please, just for me. Just for me, please, look at this, please, I’m begging you. Just look at this!" Alexander Zverev implored Mohamed Lahyani before taking a picture of the ball mark in question.

Since the umpire had initially requested Zverev to not bring out his phone to undermine his judgment, the latter was handed a warning for his actions. The German wasn't too shaken by the incident though, as he eventually won the match 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(0) in two hours and 47 minutes to reach the last eight in Madrid.

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Alexander Zverev not in favor of electronic line-calling as he takes shots at it after his Madrid Open 4R victory

Aleander Zverev unhappy with ELC going by his social media post | Image Source: Getty

Following his victory, Alexander Zverev took to his Instagram stories to post the picture of the ball mark, sarcastically implying in his caption that he was bewildered at Davidovich Fokina's shot being called in by the electronic line-calling system.

"Just gonna leave this one here. This was called in. Interesting call," Zverev wrote on his Instagram stories.

The German's attempt to curry support in the matter was successful as former World No. 1's Martina Navratilova and Boris Becker, World No. 21 Donna Vekic, and his elder brother and former ATP pro Mischa Zverev spoke out against the call made during his match.

"It’s definitely out no matter which angle you look from. And there is no other mark- this particular setup needs to be improved… something is way off," Martina Navratilova wrote on her X handle while reposting a screenshot of Zverev's story.

"clearly OUT," Boris Becker wrote on X referencing his fellow German's Madrid Open controversy.

"So crazy that umpires are not able to overrule this! Insanity," Donna Vekic echoed Navratilova and Becker's sentiments on X.

“Mark is posted..... system needs to be recalibrated..... and chair umpires should have the power to overrule... otherwise it's silly, terribly mistake," Mischa Zverev wrote in the replies of TennisTV's Instagram post detailing the incident.

Alexander Zverev has since told the media at the Madrid Open that a prospective fine from ATP for taking the picture of the ball mark would disappoint him.

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"This was not normal" - Alexander Zverev gives thoughts on electronic line-calling fiasco

Alexander Zverev may be looking at a fine from ATP | Image Source: Getty

While the 28-year-old wasn't too critical of the electronic line-calling system, he maintained that there was nothing wrong with his actions during the Round-of-16 affair against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

"I hope they don't fine me because obviously, in my opinion, I am completely right and should not be fined for this. This was not normal. Usually, the system is very reliable. Usually, the system has been correct so far in my experience, but what happened today, I don't know," Alexander Zverev said (via Punto de Break).

For what it's worth, several calls made by the electronic line judge employed at the Madrid Open have come under fire from Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka as well. The organizers at Caja Magica event first introduced the technology for line-calling in the 2021 edition of the tournament. Several claycourt events have since followed their example, including the Italian Open, the Monte-Carlo Masters, and the Charleston Open.