‘We have to take action,’ Justine Henin lashes out at Alexander Zverev for his extreme on-court behavior, calls out for stricter punishments
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Justine Henin and Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev finds himself in one controversy or the other time and again. This time, for his on-court antics, he was in the negative limelight. A few weeks ago at the Mexican Open, after his doubles match, Zverev, who wasn’t happy with certain calls furiously attacked the umpire’s chair and smashed his racket. For his inappropriate actions, Zverev was thrown out of the tournament.
He later unconditionally apologized for his brain fade moment but the tennis community called for stricter punishments to set the right example. He was later put on probation by the ATP and a fine was imposed on him. To date, many feel that the punishment was too light for him and that he should be suspended for a few tournaments.
But no such action was taken and currently, the Greman World No.3 is playing the Monte Carlo Masters. Tennis legend Justine Henin also feels that Zverev crossed the line and should be severely punished. Speaking on Eurosport Tennis Club, Henin said that you can’t yell at the umpire despite any intention, and amidst everything, due to his rage and intimidation factor, Zverev shouldn’t be allowed to compete at Monet Carlo today.
“We have to take action,” Henin said. “We hope concrete action will be taken so that these extremes stop. You can’t yell at an umpire. Even if there is no intention, it is a problem to break a racquet that flies as far as a ball boy. You can be tired… but we can’t see the images of Alexander Zverev again. These are behaviors of intimidation, of rage, which we cannot see and which we must punish much more severely.”
“He should not be on the court today, Alexander Zverev,” she added,
Alexander Zverev to face Jannik Sinner in Monte Carlo
Meanwhile, after winning two good matches against Federico Delbonis and Pablo Carreno Busta at the Principality, Zverev will now take on in form Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinal. The German is yet to win a title this season and after some shaky weeks, he would fancy his chances to go all the way. But things won’t be easy for him as Sinner too is coming off a fantastic win over last year’s finalist, Andrey Rublev.
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