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The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 'promoting' Alexander Zverev during the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open has sparked outrage among some tennis fans online.
In their 19th encounter on the tour and their first meeting in a Grand Slam, Daniil Medvedev defeated Zverev 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-3 to propel him to his third Australian Open final. This win also extended the Russian's head-to-head lead against the German to 12-7.
The match began with the World No. 6 winning the first two sets. Following this, the ATP's official social media pages shared Zverev's picture and asked 'who is just one set away from the final?'.
However, fans online were disappointed by the ATP's promotion of Zverev amidst the domestic abuse allegations levied against him by his ex-girlfriend Brenda Paeta. He will stand trial for the same in May this year.
One fan pointed out that it was a 'bad look' for the ATP to 'celebrate' a player who has been accused of violence against women.
"Bad look for the ATP to celebrate a guy that beats up women," a fan posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Another fan voiced their disapproval, highlighting the ATP's lack of 'shame' in celebrating Zverev.
"No shame at all. Yall are disgusting," the fan posted.
Another user wrote:
"friendly reminder that zverev is standing trial for domestic abuse, we should not be promoting or praising this vile human being!"
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans:
Alexander Zverev on his loss to Daniil Medvedev: "Been playing well actually for a few months now, so it's obviously extremely disappointing"
During the post-match press conference, Alexander Zverev gave his thoughts on the semi-final loss to Daniil Medvedev. He stated that he had played well throughout the Australian Open, which is why his loss against the Russian was even more disappointing.
"I mean, just basically the whole Australian trip I was playing quite well. Been playing well actually for a few months now, so it's obviously extremely disappointing. Yeah, nothing much I can say," Alexander Zverev said.
Zverev attributed his loss to him being physically unwell rather than poor performance.
"Yeah, frustrating. But for me it's more frustrating that I didn't feel 100% physically. That was more frustrating to me. It kind of took the chance away. You know, kind of I lost it because of a physical state, not because of tennis. That is, for me, disappointing..." Zverev said.
The World No. 6 revealed that he started feeling uneasy towards the end of the second set in his match against Medvedev. He also admitted to experiencing illness after his quarterfinal clash with Carlos Alcaraz, from which he had not completely recuperated prior to his match against Medvedev.
"End of the second set I started to lose energy. I started to not feel, you know, so fresh anymore. I mean, I am a bit sick. I got a bit sick after the [Carlos] Alcaraz match with a bit of fever and stuff like that, so that obviously didn't help the recovery, and I did play quite a lot," he added.
