“Have to remove him from the council of players,” Alexander Zverev’s Davis Cup teammate sounds clear verdict on the world no. 5’s domestic violence trial

The German hopes for his compatriot to come out clean in the domestic violence case.

“Have to remove him from the council of players,” Alexander Zverev’s Davis Cup teammate sounds clear verdict on the world no. 5’s domestic violence trial

Alexander Zverev, Yannick Hanfmann (Images via Imago)

German tennis ace Alexander Zverev is set to face a trial in May this year over domestic violence allegations against him. Zverev’s innocence or if he is guilty will be decided after a hearing in the court and the German’s Davis Cup teammate, Yannick Hanfmann is suggesting the same.

The 32-year-old who has played alongside Zverev while representing the country at the multinational tournament has said that everyone should wait for the court’s verdict before jumping to conclusions. Hanfmann has also said that if Zverev comes out as innocent, life will go on but if he is guilty, he should be removed from the ATP Players Council.

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He has a trial in May. And I think like once he gets through that trial, whatever verdict may come out , I think that we have to respect that one. That’s a normal procedure… to wait if he’s guilty or not guilty. I don’t know any of the subject matter. I know what he’s accused of, but I don’t know if he’s guilty or not. So let’s hopefully make them figure it out.
Yannick Hanfmann said to CLAY.

The German says he has full faith in the ATP and trusts their decision. Hanfmann also opined that it was unfair on Zverev that he was constantly asked about these accusations during the Australian Open. He then advised everyone to wait for the trial to take place.

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And then if he’s innocent, we don’t have to talk about it anymore and we move on. If he’s guilty, we’ll probably have to remove him from the Council. And the ATP will have to do something. I thought it was a little bit unfair to speak about it so much in Australia because he has a trial upcoming. Not ongoing right know. So, yeah, to make that distinction I think is important. And let’s see what happens in May, June.
Yannick Hanfmann said.

Yannick Hanfmann hopes Alexander Zverev comes out as innocent

Yannick Hanfmann was further queried about the need to curate a policy for a case like Alexander Zverev. The German showed faith in the ATP and claimed that he trusts the men’s tennis governing body to work on it and ensure that such things don’t happen in the sport.

Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev (Via Imago)
It’s such a tough topic. Maybe the ATP can develop an independent area to take care of this kind of things, because we’ve had some issues with some players. But I trust in ATP, I trust that they make their good research of all these matters. And that they figure it out, that we don’t have these issues anymore in tennis. Because it’s a bad light for us.
Yannick Hanfmann said.

The German further stated that he does not like whatever is happening with Zverev and also hopes for his compatriot to come out as innocent. Hanfmann likes to believe that the players on the tour are good guys. 

I don’t like it, of course. But let’s hope that whatever is happening with Sascha is nothing. I don’t like to hear about these things, of course. I hope that we players are good guys.
Yannick Hanfmann aded.

Notably, this is the second case of domestic violence against Alexander Zverev. While a verdict from the court is still awaited in this case, Zverev was given a clean chit in the first case by ATP.

The men’s tennis governing had set up a committee to investigate the matter and it then announced that there was no conclusive evidence obtained to initiate an action against the tennis ace. The ATP had given the responsibility to the Lake Forest Group (LFG), a third-party investigator.

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