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Alexander Zverev recently slammed journalists for their opinions on the domestic abuse allegations levied against him by ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea. His comments have not sat well with tennis fans on the internet.
Zverev was handed a $475,300 fine in October 2023 by a Berlin court for physically abusing the plaintiff. He later filed a plea against the fine maintaining innocence and is hence scheduled to face trial in May 2024.
Notably, this is not the first time the German player has been accused of a similar crime. Another former girlfriend, Olyga Sharypova, had leveled similar allegations against Zverev in 2021. The ATP investigated the claims made by Sharypova, but eventually gave Zverev the clean chit citing a "lack of evidence".
After receiving flak from journalists recently over the latest case pending in Berlin, Zverev controverted without naming anyone during a press conference at the Australian Open 2024.
"There are journalists who follow the truth, like hopefully most of you, and who are also fair to the player, and there are journalists who want to sell a story. And selling the story is more important to them than selling the truth. And I'm assuming that there's someone sitting here now who is exactly like that," he said.
The World No. 6 insinuated that the results of the latest trial would be the same as the previous allegations against him.
"If that's what he wants to do, that's fine. They did the same thing a few years ago. We all know what the result was. Then suddenly everyone was very, very quiet, very, very quick. And now these two or three are coming up again and we all know their names."
Zverev's remark angered tennis buffs on X (formerly Twitter), with one labelling the player as "disgusting and evil".
"This man is beyond disgusting and evil," they wrote.
Another fan called Zverev "despicable".
"Omg? He’s so despicable," they wrote.
A third fan compared the German with the devil.
"Oh he's Satan personified," the fan wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from X:
Alexander Zverev faces Lukas Klein in 2R at Australian Open 2024
Alexander Zverev is scheduled to take on Slovakia's Lukas Klein in the second round of the Australian Open 2024. The match will be held on Thursday, January 18, at the John Cain Arena.
Klein entered the main round after going through the qualifiers in Melbourne. He took on South Korea's Soon-woo Kwon in the opening round on Tuesday and prevailed after four sets.
On the other hand, Alexander Zverev went past compatriot Dominik Koepfer after suffering a hiccup in the first set on Tuesday. He lost the opening set but recovered quickly to secure the next three sets and advance to the next round of the Grand Slam Down Under.
