There’s an elephant in the room tennis, and the attempts of the organizations that surround the sport to act as if nothing happened are beginning to be fruitless. (Almost) everyone tries to avoid the issue, as if it did not exist, but there is no one who does not keep it in mind. Four years after being accused by his ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova of abuse during an argument in Berlin in 2020, Alexander Zverev, number six in the world, continues to attend each of the tournaments on the calendar with apparent normality, but the latest movements have once again put the focus on a case that the protagonists of the circuit have evaded in recent times.
Last October, the British media The Guardian reported that Zverev, 26, was sentenced by a German court to pay 450,000 euros in fines for bodily injury caused to his ex-girlfriend. The fine was decreed by means of a sanction ordera judicial concept contemplated in German legislation to avoid going to trial in those cases in which it interprets that the evidence of the commission of the crime is sufficient, although the subsequent appeal of the tennis player’s lawyers will force both parties to go to court on May 31, in the middle of Roland Garros (he may testify by videoconference).
The sanction against Zverev did not prevent, however, his teammates from choosing him along with three other tennis players as their representative in the Player Councilthe body that is responsible for ensuring the interests of the players of the circuito ATP. A decision that was announced on last January 8just a few days before the trial date was announced, and which has taken its expansive wave until the first Grand Slam of the year, the Open the Australia.
Since the date was known, Zverev’s press conferences have become monothematic, generating uncomfortable exchanges and moments of tension between the press and the player, who has defended at all times his ability to hold office despite the conviction. . “Why wouldn’t it be like that?” He has answered at all times the questions of the displaced journalists, for whom the German’s closedness has not been enough.
Alexander Zverev says some journalists care more about clicks than the actual truth regarding his domestic violence case
“Can I ask about the trial in Germany? Do you think it’s appropriate to continue on the ATP players council while that case is underway?”
Zverev: “Why would… pic.twitter.com/r3SyE3ksUv
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 16, 2024
“¿He believes he has the trust of his colleagues to continue in that role?” they have insisted. “Yes, I think so. Nobody has told me anything. I have no reason not to believe that (…). Some journalists are more interested in get clicks with your news about this rather than getting the truth,” he declared last Tuesday, visibly annoyed by the questions from those present in Australia.
The silence of his companions
The German’s colleagues, his current clients, have also been approached and questioned about the case, but so far none of them have decided to leave the lane that Zverev himself has set. Of the “I am good at playing tennis but not with political decisions” del local de Minaur al “I try not to read a lot of press, I don’t really know what happened” of Dimitrov, passing through the “I won’t say anything, I’m not familiar with the situation.” de Tsitsipas o el “I haven’t had much time to think about it.” of Ruud, all male tennis players have opted for the same type of response to avoid controversy.
Solo Every Swiatek, number one on the women’s circuit, has dared to go one step further. After pausing to consider his response, and after first assuring not knowing “what the result of the investigation will be”the Pole publicly admitted that “It’s not good for a player facing charges like that to be promoted.”
Swiatek was asked about Zverev’s domestic violence case
“It was confirmed overnight that Alexander Zverev will face a trial in Germany of domestic violence charges. He denies that. Is it appropriate that he continues to serve on the players council while that happens or… pic.twitter.com/X6yDJ31bNP
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 16, 2024
Netflix Reviews
The Australian Open, for its part, has decided limit Zverev’s exposure as much as possible on their social networks and channels, reporting only the results of their matches and avoiding uploading any type of video with their best points as they do with the rest of the players. A different line than that used by Netflix, who despite the case chose Zverev as one of the protagonists in the second season of his documentary Break Pointin which tennis players are shown in their daily lives behind the cameras.
He giant of streaming dedicated an entire episode to the German that focused on the recovery process after seriously injuring his ankle during the semifinal of Roland Garros contra Rafael Nadaland in which at no time was the criminal accusation or any of the complaints of sexist violence made against him mentioned.
“It is clear that his great return after the serious injury It’s a great storybut it seems that they only seek to enlarge the figure of the person to whom they dedicate each chapter, showing only the good“Taylor Fritz, protagonist in the first season of the series, acknowledged a few days ago, without wanting to directly allude to the case of abuse.
2024-01-18 15:27:44
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