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Noted journalist Ben Rothenberg has released the second part of Olga Sharypova's account detailing the domestic violence accusations against Alexander Zverev. And the latest piece is even more explosive than the first, describing in graphic detail how Zverev allegedly mistreated Sharypova at the venue of an ATP Masters 1000 event (Shanghai).
In the first part of the interview, Sharypova had talked about the abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of Zverev while attending the US Open and the Laver Cup with him. In the second part, the Russian has given a disturbing account of the events that happened after the Laver Cup, most notably at the Shanghai Masters.
The argument in Shanghai reportedly started with Zverev questioning Sharypova for going to a salon instead of staying in the hotel room and tidying it up.
"He started saying, 'Why did I come home and you're not here? I need to clean this. You're not here, why are you at the salon, why am I waiting for you? You don't love me?'" Sharypova said. "And I was like, 'What are you talking about? I’m always waiting for you in the room. I’m not fighting with you when you’re somewhere else. Can I have a little space for a few hours to take care of my face?'"
That triggered flashbacks of the US Open and the Laver Cup in Sharypova's mind, forcing her to take the drastic step of attempting suicide. Claiming that she could no longer deal with mental stress, the Russian injected herself with insulin for the second time that month.
Upon returning to his hotel room, Zverev saw a limp Sharypova lying on the bed. He allegedly force-fed her a packet of sugar to stabilize her, but once she recovered her senses he had another go at her.
"He asked me, 'Why did you do this to me? You understand what you did to me right now?'" Sharypova recalled. "He starts yelling at me and saying that 'If you will die in my room, it will be big problems for me. It’s really a big responsibility for me. You said that you don’t want to live because of me—why did you say this?'"
Sharypova asked Zverev to end their relationship on that day (9 October 2019), but he declined. The following day (10 October 2019), Sharypova woke up with Zverev continuing to pile the blame on her and calling himself a 'victim'.
"I didn’t have feelings, emotions, words," Sharypova said. "He started to blame me again and to say that he's really the victim of the situation."
Alexander Zverev was due to play Andrey Rublev in the third round of the Shanghai Masters that day, and he forbade Olga Sharypova from attending his match. She agreed, but that reportedly didn't stop the German from continuing his emotional abuse of her.
"I was already at the very bottom," Sharypova said. "And he said, 'If it's like that, you should pack your stuff and go fuck yourself.' I said, 'OK! I will fly to Moscow. You will come back, and I will be somewhere else.'"
The Russian then claimed that when she got out of the shower, Zverev asked her to leave immediately.
"When I got out of the shower, I was starting to take a towel and he came and said, 'Pack your stuff right now and leave,'" Sharypova recalled. "I'm just like, 'OK, can you wait a few minutes please? I'm naked here.'"
According to the Russian, that was the moment when Zverev lost his cool and began brutally attacking her. Sharypova claimed the German grabbed her by the throat and punched her repeatedly, which prompted her to swing her arms in self-defense.
"He started to punch me, and this time I understand that I can’t be dough for punching," she said. "I was just trying to protect myself. I'm already naked. I'm a woman, I don't have much power. And after my shower, I don't have time to get my clothes. I don't feel safe for one second."
In that episode Zverev also allegedly displayed a chilling selfishness and lack of humanity. He openly wished for Sharypova to die but not in his room, since he didn't want "problems".
"He started to say to me these things: 'I hope you will die, you should have died yesterday, but not in my room. If you want to die, you can take insulin and go die in the street because I don't want problems. I don't want to deal with you anymore,'" Sharypova said. "I’m crying. I say, 'OK, if you want me to die, give me insulin, I go to the street, and that's all. I can't hear this anymore, I can’t handle anymore. What do you want from me? You want to punch me? You already did.'"
Alexander Zverev then summoned his father, who reportedly came into the room and threatened Sharypova with legal consequences. The Russian claimed that Zverev's father began insulting her too, all while she was sitting naked on the floor.
"'You have until evening to pack your stuff,'" Sharypova recalled Zverev Sr. telling her. "He said, 'If you don't leave, I will sue you, because I have photos of how you punched my son.'"
"I was naked, sitting on the floor of the shower - all my body burns," Sharypova continued. "When he left, I was so emotionally down, I just started laughing. I was crying and I was laughing. His father just was like, 'You’re trash. We don't need you.'"
The aftermath of the Shanghai Masters incident
The fisticuff between Alexander Zverev and Olga Sharypova in Shanghai left visible injury marks on the bodies of both players. In Sharypova's case, however, they were a lot more pronounced.
Below is the screenshot of Sharypova's chat with her friend showing the pictures of her bruises, along with the translation provided.
"What’s this?" the friend texted in response to the images of Sharypova’s bruises.
"This is Sascha," Sharypova responded.
"What the hell?" her friend said. "Him again?"
"The same happened in Geneva," Sharypova answered. "In Geneva he started to punch in the face."
After Alexander Zverev defeated Andrey Rublev later that day, scratch marks were visible on his neck in several official photographs (which are still available in photo wire databases). These marks were not seen in his press conference the previous day, after he had beaten Jeremy Chardy in the second round.
The sequence of events in the Alexander Zverev-Olga Sharypova case prior to Shanghai
In Sharypova's first interview with Rothenberg from 2020, the Russian had claimed that Alexander Zverev's behavior took a turn for the worse "months before" the 2019 US Open. But the German reportedly hit a new low during the US Open, where he tried suffocating Sharypova with a pillow.
In a bid to save her life, Sharypova ran out of the hotel barefoot. She was later picked up by a friend - Vasil Surduk - who, along with his stepmother, urged her to reconcile with Zverev.
Sharypova and Zverev got back together, and she accompanied him to a few more tournaments, including the Laver Cup, which was held in Geneva. According to the Russian, Zverev punched her in the face for the first time in their relationship while they were in their Geneva hotel room.
The incident reportedly left Sharypova distraught, which in turn made her try to commit suicide by injecting insulin into her body. Given that the Russian does not have diabetes, taking insulin would have been fatal for her as it would have drastically lowered her sugar levels.
"I injected it, and I wasn't scared; I just wanted to leave in some way, because I can't stand it anymore," Sharypova said.
According to Sharypova, Zverev then brought in an unnamed Laver Cup official to intervene and prevent the matter from going out of hand.
What happens next?
It's been nearly 10 months since the first part of Olga Sharypova's account was released, but so far Alexander Zverev hasn't faced any kind of sanction or even investigation from the authorities. The big powers in tennis have also seemingly closed ranks around him, with Roger Federer calling him a "great guy", Novak Djokovic asking him to "stay strong" and Billie Jean King hiding all replies referring to the abuse case in a post she put up congratulating Zverev.
The ATP is legally bound from investigating matters for which no case has been filed, and Olga Sharypova has repeatedly stated she has no interest in pressing charges against Alexander Zverev. In fact, Sharypova asserted in the latest interview that her primary objective behind going public with these details is to help other victims of abuse speak up too.
"I wanted to be public, to be honest with all of you," Sharypova said. "Many girls in this situation are silent. They don't speak about it because they’re afraid of comments that it’s not true and stuff like that. I just wanted to show that it’s not hard to speak about it. It already happened in real life, you already lived it. You know that you said the truth, you know that you're not a bad person, and you didn't deserve this."
While Sharypova's stance is considered admirable by many, the fact remains that Zverev is currently under no legal obligation to provide any explanation or rebuttal of her claims. That could possibly change in a few months though, as the ATP is currently in the process of reviewing its policies - with specific reference to domestic abuse.
