“Anything to defend their precious poster boy,” Alexander Zverev’s domestic abuse case verdict doesn’t sit well with fans who ridicule ATP over their investigation
Fans upset with ATP after they find Alexander Zverev innocent in his domestic abuse case filed by ex-girlfriend Olya Sharypova.
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Alexander Zverev
The longstanding investigation of Alexander Zverev‘s domestic abuse case has finally ended. The accusations made against the player were by his former girlfriend Olya Sharypova back in 2020. She had accused the former World No. 2 of violence and both physical and mental abuse.
Speaking to journalist Ben Rothenberg, she revealed the trauma she underwent during her strenuous relationship with the German. Rothenberg then brought the story to the front of the world. The ATP was late to react to the case facing much criticism before finally launching an investigation in 2021, a year after Sharypova reported her case.
After a long study of the case that was handed out to a third party, The Lake Forest Group (LFG), the ATP finally concluded the investigation. Citing a lack of evidence and witnesses, Zverev has been found innocent. The report further concluded that the investigation might be reopened if at all new pieces of evidence are found that prove the German violated the ATP’s On-Site Offenses or Player Major Offenses.
“The seriousness and complexity of these allegations required an extremely thorough investigative process and considerable resources. It also required us to turn to specialist investigators, which was new ground for ATP. We ultimately believe the exhaustive process was necessary to reach an informed judgement.
“It has also shown the need for us to be more responsive on safeguarding matters. It is the reason we’ve taken steps in that direction, with a lot of important work still ahead,” said Massimo Calvelli, ATP CEO in the ATP press release on the matter.
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Fans upset with ATP over Alexander Zverev’s case
Over the years, Alexander Zverev has also been named occasionally in the ‘Bad Boys of Tennis’ list. The German has been fined on many occasions for racket abuse. The situation escalated in Mexico during the 2022 season when after a Doubles loss he smashed his racket on the chair umpire’s stand. Zverev was defaulted out of the tournament immediately from singles as well as a result.
These incidents built the narrative around him that he might have actually acted in the manner in which Sharypova reported things. While his fans were happy that he is off the hook, many others were disappointed with ATP in the Sharypova case. The tennis body has been often criticized for protecting the German and fans used it to criticize the decision.
Neither Zverev nor Sharypova have commented on the decision yet. The German last played at the 2023 Australian Open where he lost in the second round.
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Sarthak Shitole
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