Kyrgios’ dazzling play and volatile on-court outbursts have drawn enormous attention from fans and critics for years, most recently in the Wimbledon final. What viewers may not know, however, is that before the Wimbledon quarterfinals, allegations surfaced that the tennis player had assaulted an ex-girlfriend; Kyrgios has a hearing date for the case in Australia this month. (His lawyer has said that Kyrgios “is taking the accusation very seriously.”)
Kyrgios is not the only figure on the circuit who is involved in legal proceedings. Two lesser-known players, Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia and Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil, have been accused of physical abuse against former partners. (Both have denied the allegations.)
But perhaps the highest-profile player caught up in a scandal is Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who has risen to second place in the ranking world.
When Zverev won the gold medal at the Olympics last summer, some tennis fans were grossed out. In late 2020, Zverev had been accused of domestic violence by a former girlfriend, allegations that journalist Ben Rothenberg vividly described for the magazine Racquet y Slate. (Zverev has said that he is innocent).
All of these players deserve due process. But the Association of Professional Tennis Players (ATP), the governing body of the men’s tour, has shown a disturbing lack of urgency in addressing the allegations, raising questions about how seriously domestic violence is taken.
The ATP does not have clear policies outlining what should happen when players face allegations. The organization took more than a year to open an investigation into Zverev, which remains unresolved. Last month, the ATP issued a statement about Kyrgios to Reuters, saying it was aware of the case against him but “it would be inappropriate to comment further” with legal proceedings ongoing.
Yes, it could be a prudent decision. But such extreme caution sends a terrible message about the priorities of those on the men’s tennis board, who seem more concerned with the image of the sport than the responsibility of quickly responding to troubling allegations. In addition, that means that elite players accused of misconduct continue to be openly promoted by the sport, and continue to have a presence on the pitches.
And much of the media that covers tennis follows that trend.
Just before Kyrgios’ Wimbledon quarterfinal match on ESPN2, ESPN’s main channel, an inappropriate segment aired promoting his infamous on-court antics—such as breaking rackets and verbally abusing the judges and their “team”— and at the end, the broadcast commentators laughed at them. Other ESPN analysts called Kyrgios a “character” who was “good at tennis” and went so far as to say that everything in his personal life seemed “fine.”
The coverage around Zverev was similar. During their first four matches at last year’s US Open, ESPN did not mention the domestic violence allegations. Finally, on the day of Zverev’s quarterfinal match, the channel aired a segment about the accusations; but once the meeting began, the issue was ignored. A journalist who interviewed Zverev for the German media Bild decided on his own account to qualify the accusations as “disparate”.
For some sports commentators—although not enough—this is unacceptable. Catherine Whitaker, one of the hosts of “The Tennis Podcast”, stated that “we should all feel uncomfortable” watching Zverev play, and lamented the fact that people in the world of tennis are not able to at least pronounce “the simple words: ‘domestic violence is wrong’”.
“That’s not hard to say,” Whitaker said. But “we rarely hear it because everyone would prefer the subject to go away.”
One of the few who marked her position was Mary Carillo, who last year resigned from her position as a commentator for the Laver Cup, in which Zverev was participating, due to the event’s unwillingness to address questions related to violence. domestic.
“I don’t want to be part of the silence,” Carillo said on the “Behind the Racquet” tennis podcast. “If you remain silent, that suggests that you are complicit.”
Tennis can and must do much more to show that it is not an accomplice. Broadcasters and commentators could provide better context for a player’s off-pitch problems and avoid light-hearted, perfunctory interviews with players accused of domestic violence.
Furthermore, the ATP could send a strong message about its values by creating an appropriate code of conduct. Organizations like the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Football League finally have those codes. Although in some cases they have fallen short, they have forced authorities to take action: This year alone, after conducting its own investigation, the MLB suspended Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer for 324 games due to allegations of misconduct. sexual assault, even though the Los Angeles County District Attorney did not file charges. (Bauer has denied the allegations and is appealing the league’s decision.)
