Alexander Zverev's infuriating habit leaves US Open fans struggling to watch final against Ben Shelton

By JAKE FENNER, US SPORTS WRITER

Tennis fans are growing impatient with German tennis star Alexander Zverev's frustrating pre-serve habit.

Zverev, the reigning French Open champion, is on Arthur Ashe this Sunday in the US Open men's singles final with the aim of beating American Ben Shelton to take his second Grand Slam title.

Throughout his run to the final, fans have noted that Zverev has a penchant for bouncing the ball repeatedly before his serve.

While bouncing the ball is not uncommon, Zverev does it to a level beyond what is considered the norm.

In an interview, he was asked about the habit and the German didn't provide much of a detailed answer to satisfy the masses.

'I have no idea why. I'm not doing it on purpose,' Zverev told reporters. 'I just, I saw the stat, like I bounced it 12,000 times or something like that. That was quite funny.'

Tennis fans are growing tired of Alexander Zverev's pre-serve habits at the US Open

Fans have debated Zverev's habit of bouncing the ball pre-serve an excessive amount of times

Zverev is in his second Grand Slam final of the year, playing Ben Shelton for the US Open crown

Zverev added: 'I mean, no, I'm not like, I'm not counting in my head. I'm not getting a certain number or anything like that. I don't know why it increased so much.

'I think today it decreased again. Because I saw it before the semifinals. So I was like, okay, it's got to go less. But then, like, I forget about it every once in a while, and then it goes up to— I don't know what number it is.'

When asked if there's anything specific that happens to get him to stop bouncing the ball, Zverev replied: 'No clue. Honestly, like, really honestly, no idea.'

The German's habit had fans angry on social media: 'It's almost always 16 times come on Sasha, you know it,' read one comment.

Another said: 'It's obviously a tactic.'

At the time of publishing, Zverev leads Shelton after winning the first two sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).