"Stop shielding your golden boy and realize he's a bad person" - Tennis fans unhappy with Alexander Zverev's punishment for Mexican Open outburst

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) completed its formal investigation of Alexander Zverev's violent outburst at the recently concluded Mexican Open on Tuesday.

The World No. 3 lost his cool after disagreeing with a line call during his doubles opener at the tournament and verbally abused the chair umpire with a series of expletives.

The German did not stop there and went on to bang his racquet repeatedly against the umpire's chair at the end of the encounter, physically intimidating him. He was subsequently suspended from the ATP 500 event for "unsportsmanlike conduct" and forfeited all his prize money as well as ranking points. On top of that, a hefty $40,000 fine was also levied on the 24-year-old.

After lengthy deliberations, the ATP announced that Alexander Zverev will not be banned from any tournaments but will be put on probation for one year. If he receives any code violations during this period, he will be immediately suspended from all ATP-sanctioned events for eight weeks. Zverev was also fined an additional $25,000.

Tennis fans on Twitter were understandably unhappy with the decision, pointing out that the response from the ATP was "inadequate," "weak" and "disappointing" considering how close Alexander Zverev got to hurting the umpire.

"And i guess the ATP still want to be taken seriously? In no other workplace would his behaviour ever be acceptable!! It's just gutless," one fan tweeted. "They could really set a precedent that could see so many positive changes but instead they cop out. Disappointing doesn't even cover it."

"This 'punishment' of Zverev is incredibly weak from the ATP. Even a small actual suspension of Indian Wells & Miami + a period of probation would at least be something," another fan tweeted. "A one-year suspended suspension of eight weeks + one-year suspended $25,000 fine is inadequate."

David Kane, the Tennis Channel's editorial producer, was among those who were concerned by the dangerous precedent this ruling set for the future. Kane wondered sarcastically if the ATP would take the issue of abuse against umpires seriously only when a player ended up badly hurting them.

"It's going to take a player seriously hurting an official on live TV for tennis to do anything about the increasing aggression against them," he wrote.

Gill Gross, who acts as a host on the Tennis Channel, highlighted the meager fine that was imposed on Zverev, saying it was smaller than the amount a player received upon losing out in the first round of the US Open. Gross was of the opinion that fines were not enough to curb this behavior from players and that suspension sentences had to be much harsher to discourage future incidents.

"Alexander Zverev was fined a total of $65,000 for what he did in Acapulco. In 2021, the payout for losing in the first round of the US Open was $75,000. Not a dent," he wrote. "My solution is to suspend players when harsh discipline is necessary. Fines don't do much in any sport."

Another user was of the opinion that the ATP was particularly lenient in Alexander Zverev's case because he was their "golden boy."

"The way it seems Zverev has gotten away with what he did in acapulco with just a fine and withdrawal from said tournament. ATP stop shielding your ‘golden boy’ and realize he’s a bad f***ing person who needs to face consequences," another user wrote.

Alexander Zverev is likely to be the second seed at the Indian Wells Masters

Alexander Zverev is likely to be the second seed at the upcoming Indian Wells Masters

Alexander Zverev's participation at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters has been under a cloud of suspicion over the last week or so, but it has become clear now that the German will be playing unimpeded. He is likely to be the second seed at the ATP 1000 event, which kicks off on 9 March, behind World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic has not officially announced that he will be pulling out, but it is almost guaranteed that he cannot compete because of America's vaccine mandates. All the signs indicate that the Serb will be missing in action in the Californian desert.

Zverev is yet to get past the quarterfinals of the tournament in five appearances. Seeded third last year, Alexander Zverev defeated Jenson Brooksby, Andy Murray and Gael Monfils before falling to 31st seed Taylor Fritz. Overall, the 24-year-old has a 8-5 win/loss record in Indian Wells, something he will be determined to improve on this year.