ACAPULCO, Mexico – The ATP expelled German Alexander Zverev (3rd in the world in singles) from the Acapulco tennis tournament for repeatedly hitting the referee’s chair with his racket after a double defeat on Tuesday, a rare decision.

“Due to his unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of his double match on Tuesday night, Alexander Zverev was expelled from the Acapulco tournament,” the governing body of the men’s professional circuit announced on his account. Twitter ATP multimedia information.

The 24-year-old was due to play in the second round alone against compatriot Peter Gojowczyk on Wednesday, after winning his first round match against American Jenson Brooksby at 4:54 on Monday night, the slowest in the history of professional tennis.

On Tuesday night, Alexander Zverev got off his feet after losing his double match in the super tiebreak with Brazilian Marcelo Melo of Britain Lloyd Glasspool and Finland Harri Heliövaara 6-2, 4-6, 10- 6.

In the video, Zverev is seen hitting referee Alessandro Germani’s chair three times, sitting and then getting up to insult him and giving one last kick to the racket just below the referee’s leg as he got down from his chair .

On social media, Zverev later apologized, saying his behavior was unacceptable.

Aside from his exclusion from the Acapulco tournament, the German, Tokyo Olympian in the singles and winner of the last Masters, could be punished more severely according to the ATP disciplinary code.

Before him, Makenro or Djokovic

“If the First Vice-President, Regulations and Competitions, deems that this was an infringement particularly detrimental to the proper conduct of the tournament or detrimental to the integrity of the sport, he may consider additional penalties (fines or suspensions),” the ATP clarifies to this disciplinary body. code.

Player’s missions for bad behavior are very rare in professional tennis.

However, some big names had this fate during a match: the American John McEnroe was eliminated at the Australian Open in 1990 for insulting the referee and the Australian Nick Kyrgios in Rome in 2019 because he threw a chair on the field.

Serb Novak Djokovic was sent off on the pitch at the 2020 United States Open for inadvertently hitting a ball in the direction of a line assistant. Canadian Denis Shapovalov had a similar adventure when his ball hit the eye of the French referee Arnaud Gabas in the 2017 Davis Cup. As for the Argentine David Nalbadian, he was deprived of the end of the Queen’s 2012 final, because he inadvertently injured a line assistant.

Zverev is also the subject of an investigation by the ATP into allegations of domestic violence against him by his ex-partner.

In June 2020, he was also criticized for partying at a crowded bar when he promised to be isolated for 14 days after taking part in the Adria Tour, an exhibition tournament with an audience and no distances. organized by Novak Djokovic during which several players, including No. 1 in the world, were infected with COVID-19.

This version of the Acapulco tournament was the scene of another unusual incident on Tuesday afternoon: John Millman had to give up after being shot in the eye.

The Australian preferred to smile by posting a photo on his account Instagram where we see him with a plaster in his eye touching him involuntarily and accompanied by the reference: “You must always watch the ball”.