I know this is very “insider tennis-y” but it’s been bugging me all week and I need to vent. First off, Alexander Zverev is a German tennis player and he’s 24 years old. He is at his career-high ranking right now, sitting at #3. For years, the tennis industry has been trying to promote him as the perfect blonde prince who would take over as king of the “next generation.” It hasn’t worked out that way. In 2020, his ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova shared her credible story of how Zverev allegedly physically and emotionally abused her for months, to the point where she attempted suicide during one of his tournaments, at a tournament hotel. You can read Olya’s story in two parts, Part 1 at Racquet Magazine and Part 2 at Slate.

I bring this up because the ATP (the governing body for the men’s tennis tour) said they launched an internal investigation into Shaypova’s credible accusations but absolutely nothing has come of it other than Zverev getting new sponsors. The ATP hasn’t even contacted Shaypova to speak to her. The vibe is “let’s hope it just goes away on its own.” Except Zverev keeps winning titles and he even won gold at the Olympics. Then this week, Zverev was playing singles and doubles at the tournament in Acapulco. After his late night doubles match (which he lost), he did this to the chair umpire:

Alexander Zverev has been THROWN OUT of the Mexican Open for attacking the umpire's chair at the end of his doubles match 😮😮😮 pic.twitter.com/CWhQ1r6kwj

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) February 23, 2022

Al terminar el encuentro y con mal sabor por la derrota fue que Zverev casi golpea al juez, a esperar que sanción tendrá

📽 @paulinapaar #AMT2022 #Acapulco pic.twitter.com/bXex9BrU5l

— No Sólo Hay Futbol (@NosolohayFut_) February 23, 2022

See that violence? See how menacing he is? See how he felt empowered to react violently in full view of cameras and hundreds of people in the stands? Yeah. Zverev issued a statement apologizing in a half-assed way, as the larger tennis community called for his suspension as punishment. Instead, all that happened was that Zverev was defaulted from their tournament and handed a fine:

Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Alexander Zverev was fined $40,000 by the men’s professional tennis tour and will forfeit more than $30,000 in prize money and all rankings points from the Mexican Open after hitting the chair umpire’s stand with his racket following a loss in doubles. In addition to those penalties, the ATP announced Thursday it would undertake “a further review of the incident.”

The ATP said Zverev was fined $20,000 each for verbal abuse and unsportsmanlike conduct, the maximum penalty for each violation. He loses his full prize money for singles and doubles of $31,570 and all rankings points earned at the tournament.

[From The AP]

The way the ATP capes for this guy really bugs me. He violently menaced an umpire and repeatedly struck the chair. The umpire had to move his feet to avoid being hit. There are people saying that if this had been a woman, especially a woman of color, the hammer would have come down a lot harder. That’s true. I just don’t understand why no one at the ATP is taking all of this seriously. He’s escalating. He’s violent in public. He’s getting away with it with few repercussions. Why does the ATP think this will just “go away” on its own?

Last month, Slate published an investigation by @BenRothenberg revealing new abuse allegations against tennis star Alexander Zverev. https://t.co/HPZ3eBzlKd

— Slate (@Slate) September 10, 2021

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.