Updated on 2/23/2022 at 4:34 p.m
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- After his successful and historic first-round victory in singles, Alexander Zverev also competed in doubles in Acapulco.
- There he lost with his friend and colleague Felipe Melo.
- And then attacked the referee – with consequences.
With a freak out, Alexander Zverev not only destroyed his chances of defending his title at the tennis tournament in Acapulco, but also badly damaged his image, which had just been improved by winning the Olympics.
On Tuesday (local time) after an actually insignificant defeat in doubles, Zverev hit the referee’s chair with his tennis racket several times, on which the referee was still sitting. Once, the 24-year-old almost hit the referee’s foot, whom he had insulted loudly several times shortly before after a controversial decision.
The men’s organization ATP reacted immediately and excluded Zverev from the further course of the tournament because of “unsportsmanlike conduct”. Munich’s Peter Gojowczyk therefore reached the quarter-finals without a fight. Only a few hours after Zverev had played his way into the history books of tennis with his spectacular first round victory at 4:55 a.m., Zverev made an inglorious chapter.
On Wednesday morning (local time), Zverev apologized via Instagram. “It’s hard to put into words how much I regret my behavior during and after yesterday’s doubles,” he wrote in an Insta story. “I have privately apologized to the chair umpire because my outburst to him was wrong and unacceptable and I’m just disappointed in myself. It just shouldn’t have happened and there’s no apology.”
He now wants to learn the lessons from the incident. “I will use the coming days to think about my actions and how I can ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” wrote Zverev.
Zverev let out anger at the referee
After his double defeat at the ATP tournament in Acapulco, Zverev lost his composure and vented his anger at the referee’s chair. After the 1: 2 (2: 6, 6: 4, 6:10) alongside Marcelo Melo (Brazil) against Lloyd Glasspool/Harri Heliövaara (Great Britain/Finland), the 24-year-old gave free rein to his frustration.
Zverev yelled loudly at the referee after the first round match (“You fucking idiot” – you damn idiot) and kept hitting his racquet hard on his chair, just missing his feet. The result: The organizer also disqualified him in singles.
Acapulco: Zverev is disqualified – further penalties are imminent
What happened? During the match tiebreak in the third set, Zverev and Melo felt the ball had been mistakenly spotted out of bounds.
There defending champion Zverev – after his historic victory on Tuesday shortly before 5 a.m. local time against the American Jenson Brooksby with 3: 6, 7: 6 (12:10) – would have played the round of 16 against Peter Gojowczyk from Munich. He now goes into the quarterfinals without a fight.
It is still unclear how Zverev will continue. Next up is a start at the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. It is still unclear whether Zverev faces further consequences in addition to the disqualification in Acapulco. The ATP did not comment further on Wednesday. A fine or a ban would be possible. (afp/dpa/sap/ank)
© AFP
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Alexander Zverev’s ex posted a cute video of their daughter Mayla and the fans freaked out. Brenda Patea shared some shots of Mayla from behind on Instagram.
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